The entire week that passed seemed more like seven months than seven days. Max refused to go to any classes and locked herself in her dorm, constantly hopping between grief and frustration as she struggled to cope with the weight of her decisions and find a way to save Rachel and maybe Chloe in the process. The real struggle was finding the solution to the problem without the fear of what might result: going back in time through pictures is how she screwed up timelines so bad before, but it was the only way for this new rescue mission to work. The only problem was that there were no good photos to use. None of the missing person posters with Rachel's picture on them were working, and if she went too far back in time from a random photo then she would have to live out all that time over again until the moment came to make things right. Max heard her phone buzz on the nightstand. A message popped up from Joyce. She had been sending texts to Max for nearly a week that went unread, but this time Max felt that she should at least acknowledge it this time.
Hey Max. I understand if you don't want to talk; but if you're feeling up to it stop by the diner. I have something for you. Max didn't reply, but she felt obligated to see Joyce again; if only out of curiosity for what she had to give her.
Max took the bus down to the diner, consciously avoiding eye contact or conversation with anyone. For lunchtime on a Friday, the diner seemed very empty and unlively. She didn't see Joyce anywhere at first, so she sat in her usual booth with her head down and just waited. Several minutes passed before Joyce came stumbling out of the kitchen with a plate and a glass in hand. She arrived at Max's table and set both down in front of her.
"Hey Max," she said quietly, "It's on the house if you're hungry."
"Thanks, Joyce," Max replied.
Joyce reached into a pocket in her apron and pulled out a small book, clutching it tight. "I wanted you to have this, Max," she said, "After you left, Chloe started to change. She seemed to have a lot more secrets in her life; no doubt written in here." She set the book on the table and wiped a tear from each eye. "This is her journal. I couldn't bring myself to read it; but I know she would have wanted you to have it." She stepped away from the table and continued to take orders from the few customers that were left waiting.
Max pulled the book closer to her, swapping it with the plate of pancakes, and opened the cover. Property of Chloe Price, it said. She began flipping through the pages that were full of are and written passages describing the grief she felt after William had died. God, she took it so hard, Max thought, not that I blame her. I just wish I could have been there. She flipped through a few more pages that contained photos of various people, including Max, and she read some very colorful passages about some people she clearly didn't like, and some more insightful passages about people that might have been considered friends, if that was even in Chloe's vocabulary after all turmoil she experienced. Wow…she really did think I abandoned her. A few more pages later, she came to a few pages about Rachel. Judging by this, I can't believe they even got along. They met at a Firewalk concert? Definitely not my kind of music, but…sure doesn't seem like it would have been Rachel's either. She finally came to a page that had a photo of Rachel and Chloe. They both looked so happy. She took a moment to consider the possibility of using the photo to time travel with. When she realized that the picture was distorting the way others did when she focused on it, she immediately felt a sense of hope. She pulled the picture out of the diary and approached Joyce at the cash register.
"How are you doing, Max?" she asked.
"I'm okay," Max replied. She held the photo over the counter for Joyce to look at, "This might be a strange question, but do you happen to know how old this picture is?"
"I remember this picture," Joyce reminisced, "I took it after my shift one night when they were both here. Rachel was probably the only friend Chloe had after you left; at least, the only friend I am aware of. I don't remember exactly when that was, but I think this was only a day or two before she disappeared. The police were looking into it for a few months, but with no evidence or leads, it just became a sort of cold case. Why do you ask?"
"No reason in particular," Max said, avoiding having to explain the situation she was in, "It's just nice to know that Chloe had someone else looking out for her." She turned to look back at the food she left on the table, "I appreciate pancakes, Joyce, but I'm just not feeling it today."
"It's okay, Max, thanks for stopping by."
Max returned to the table to grab Chloe's diary and exited the restaurant to catch the next bus to Blackwell. When she arrived, she headed straight for her dorm and shut herself in while she contemplated what her current situation would be if she were to use the photo to time travel: She was still in Seattle when Rachel disappeared; how would she get there? Would Chloe or Rachel of that time even believe her if she just showed up and told them Rachel was in danger? Would her rewind power even work anymore once she was there? She continued to judge her situation when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Max, are you there? It's me," she heard Kate's muffled voice through the dorm door.
"It's open, Kate."
Kate pushed the door open and slowly stepped over to Max's bed where she sat down next to her. "I just came to see how you were doing," she said, "You haven't been to any of your classes lately."
"I know, Kate…I just…"
"I understand. You seem like you are lost in thought; am I interrupting something."
"No." Max said definitively. "Actually, as long as you're here, can I ask you something?"
"Of course. Anything."
"Rachel Amber was a friend of Chloe," Max explained, "Apparently they grew pretty close while I was still away in Seattle. Did you know her at all, or know anything about her?"
Kate's head tilted down toward the floor as if she attempted to recall any information she could think of. "I never formally met her," Kate said. "I know that she was a straight-A student and that one day she just stopped going to classes. I've heard different explanations from different people. The most common are that she dropped out or was expelled for dealing drugs. Neither reason makes sense to me, but like I said, I never knew her personally. Her missing person fliers are posted everywhere though."
"I've noticed."
"Before I forget, there's something else," Kate continued.
Max saw her perk up a little bit through her apparent recollection before shamefully turning away from her, "It's okay, Kate, you can tell me."
"I don't remember much about the Vortex Club party the other day…not that I need or want to; I think Victoria showed the world all it needed to see. But I remember seeing her there that night."
"Wait, what!?" Max exclaimed, "She was completely off the grid for six months and she just showed up at a Vortex Club party. But—but she was killed, we found her body and—" Max stopped dead in her words when she realized what she was saying in front of the one person that could have flipped out over that information. She tried to rewind the last few seconds that passed as she had been doing for what seemed like forever, but she had no luck.
"I thought you said you didn't know who she was," Kate said, "You found a body…her body? What?" Kate was understandably flustered and looked as though she was about to run away in fear. Realizing what she had just done, Max found herself with no other choice but to tell Kate the entire truth.
Max sighed and took one deep breath, "Kate, I need to tell you something…" she said. The words came out faster than she anticipated. Kate did not say anything back, but her expression was enough to tell Max that she was listening. "I know you are going to have a hard time believing me, but I swear that I am telling you the truth and I swear I am not crazy."
"I don't think you're crazy, Max," Kate reassured her.
"Not yet, you don't. For about the past week, or more…technically, I've had this weird power where I can rewind time." Kate opened her mouth with clear intent to speak, but Max cut her off before she could say anything. "I saw Chloe get shot in the bathroom and…and I realized I could stop it from happening, so I did. And when we reunited after five years of separation, we made an attempt to find out what happened to Rachel Amber. I started to get more familiar with my ability and I discovered I could go back in time using pictures and I—I—I started fucking up multiple timelines and events and we eventually found out that Nathan and Mr. Jefferson were both involved in the disappearances of other students and that they drugged Rachel and-and killed her and—and Chloe too and th-the only way to set everything right was to go back to the moment Chloe got shot and just…" Max broke into tears, unable to say anything more. Kate wrapped her arm around Max and pulled her head to her shoulder while she continued letting her emotional dam burst.
"It's okay, Max, I don't think you're."
"You don't?"
"I admit: while it is a little hard to believe, I don't think you would make up something like that."
"Thank you," Max said, wiping some tears from her face, "You're a really good friend."
"So are you, Max." She gave Max a gentle pat on the shoulder and stood up, "I'll give you some space; I have to get to class." She closed the door behind her and left Max alone to try figuring out her next plan of action.
Max turned back to the diary and the photo of Chloe and Rachel. She was at that Vortex Club party on the 4th. She died sometime after that. If I can just go back ten days; that's all I need. I must have a photo from then. She started rummaging through all the polaroids she had laying around and tried to find one that was as close to the day as she could. If she was able to save Rachel and Chloe from the fates they didn't deserve, it was only likely that she could also help Kate on that night as well. She picked through a string of photos until she found one that would work for her. I know I took this picture on the 4th; I considered giving it to Jefferson that day and I chose not to. It will have to work. She set the picture on her desk and focused on it. The image began to distort and she felt her stomach drop, almost as if she was falling through the frame.
When fully blurred image came back into focus, she was holding the camera used to take the picture and sitting on a bench in the courtyard near the dorms. It worked. She put her camera in her bag and took out her phone to confirm the time and date. 6:38. The party is at 10 and I need to convince Chloe of what's going down ASAP.
"Hey Max!" Victoria said in a condescending voice while strutting by her along with Nathan and Taylor. "Have fun not coming to the party tonight. It's a shame you never get an invite."
"Fuck off, Victoria," Max yelled.
"Ooh. Meow," Taylor followed, "You better be careful Victoria; Kitty might bring her claws out."
Max just walked away and ignored them. Bitches. She scrolled to Chloe's name in her phone and selected the call option. The phone rang several times before reaching a voicemail. "Really, Chloe?" She tried again and the phone continued to ring until voicemail. "Dammit!" she expressed louder. She tried one final time to reach Chloe by phone. Finally, after multiple rings, Chloe answered.
"What do you want, Max?" she yelled through the phone.
"Chloe, we really need to talk."
"Oh, now you want to talk. After five years, and you only want to talk now!?"
"Chloe, this is not the time to be a bitch."
"Yeah, whatever—"
"Just listen to me, Chloe; Rachel is in danger but the two of us can save her."
"I'm supposed to just believe—wait—how do you know who Rachel is?"
"Do I have your attention now?" Max inquired.
Chloe gave no answer, but she was clearly listening.
"I owe you a huge explanation and a huge apology. Meet me at the Two Whales and we can talk."
"Fine. But Rachel's been missing for several months so if you have any info…"
"I'll explain when I see you alright."
"Whatever," Chloe hung up on her end and Max proceeded to catch the bus into town.