Kate slumped down in her office chair and sighed. Her daily walk had been longer today than normal, and she'd stopped several times to make pleasant conversations with passerbys. Oddly enough, in the hallway as she was approaching her bedroom, she bumped into a tall girl with short blond hair who she vaguely recognised.
"Hi, you must be Kate Marsh." The girl smiled. She spoke with an annoyingly high-pitched voice and wore expensive clothes and jewellery. Kate made a mental note to pray later on to absolve her internal cattiness, but she still decided to be wary in case this girl replicated her high-school bullies. "You live right next door, correct?"
Kate nodded. "I don't think I've had the pleasure to meet you yet. What's your name?"
"Victoria. Victoria Chase." Victoria smiled and extended out a hand, which Kate took in return for a brief handshake. "It's really nice to meet you." Victoria glanced her up and down. "I see you're a devout Christian."
Kate blushed and fiddled with her cross necklace. "I wouldn't say devout but… Okay maybe. My parents are more devout Christians, especially my mother." Kate gulped. "I personally don't care about other people's religious backgrounds, I just like to follow my faith."
Victoria nodded. "Fair enough. My grandparents were Jewish, but the rest of our family stopped practising before I was born."
"I see." Kate nodded. Kate glanced at her phone briefly. "I should go. Nice to meet you, though."
"Likewise." Victoria smiled. "We should hang out at some time."
"That sounds nice. I'll consider it." Kate replied. She knew that Victoria knew how empty that acceptance was. Kate figured the invitation was empty too, but she really did want to make friends here.
As Kate recalled this, she glanced up at her ceiling in her bedroom. She was very tired. Sleeping felt weird in her new bed, and as a result she spent a good portion of the previous night strolling through the campus, and praying in her room. Trying to get the weird thoughts out of her first few days in her new home out of her mind, she focused on the tea session she was supposed to have with the girl she met that morning. Where was she?
"So how do you expect to go about doing that?" Nathan asked, failing to keep the smugness out of his voice. "He's incredibly powerful."
"Yes, he is, but I have five years worth of evidence on him. I know where his bunker is, and, if my memory serves me well, I still remember the passcode." She answered, slowly reversing the bullet's trajectory back into the gun before lowering it.
"And what do I get out of it?" Nathan asked, letting go of Max's shoulder once she'd finished.
"A guarantee that you won't go to jail with him." She tilted her head and looked at him. "You are his accomplice after all. I can pull together some psychiatric reports and emails to back up a claim that he groomed you. Which, coincidentally, he did."
"So you really think he would have killed me?"
"I told you. I saw it myself." Max said simply. "He shot Chloe Price in the head, dragged me back to the bunker, drugged me and photographed me, and then told me he killed you and buried you somewhere."
Nathan's face turned white. "Okay."
"So you're finally coming to terms with the consequences of your actions? Or are you only now scared because you realised he was using you as well?"
Nathan scowled, but looked at the gun in Max's hand and said nothing.
"Hmm." Max smiled. "You don't know how relieved I felt when my powers magically ripped me out of there."
Nathan started circling around behind Max, as if examining her. "So you can just, reverse time?"
"Yes, we've been over this. I really should go." Max said. "I didn't come to tell you my life story."
"Okay then. What's your plan, Caulfield?"
"When we need you, we'll get you. We know where you are."
"I don't like threats, Caulfield."
"Oh believe me that was no thr-" Max stopped.
A blue butterfly flew in through the window.
Using the distraction, Nathan lunged for the gun, wrestling it from her grip.
"Get off me, Prescott!"
"As long as I'm touching you, I'm unaffected by your powers, isn't that right?" He was grinning evilly. Max was gradually losing her grip on the gun. She had only one chance.
She let go of the gun.
Nathan, satisfied, stepped back slightly, and Max moved in. She stomped on his foot and elbowed him in the stomach. His grip on her loosened as he stumbled back. She quickly whipped around and shoved him backwards, sending him sprawling on the floor, gun in hand.
"This isn't over, Prescott." She took Nathan's spare phone and ran out of the bedroom, and didn't stop until she was back upstairs on her floor. She turned around to make sure Nathan wasn't following her. He wasn't. He may be irrational, but at least he wasn't stupid. She quickly went into her room and tossed the phone in her clothes drawer, burying it under her underwear. She'd go through it later to see any developments between him and Jefferson, but for now she had to see Kate Marsh. She looked at the time. She hadn't been in Nathan's room for more than 5 minutes. Her head was beginning to hurt majorly. "This is what I get for using my powers this excessively." She had a stash of painkillers for this situation handy, so she took one and lay down on her bed, making sure the sunlight wasn't on her face. "Just a quick nap to clear my head before I go see Kate."
Half an hour later and she hadn't slept at all. She had long since given up and thought of some other way to relax. She looked over at her stash of books, that were almost barren. "That's right," Max thought. "Kate gets me back into reading again." None of her books seemed all that interesting, and she felt too tired to play the guitar. Listening to music would just make her headache worse, so she simply stared at her wall of photos that she had put up on her first day. She tilted her head, thinking of an idea. She smirked. She grabbed her polaroid and her tripod and assembled it carefully. Setting a timer on the polaroid, she pressed the button and got in frame.
"Click!" Went the polaroid and it spat out the image. Max turned around and grabbed the picture and shook it twice. She looked at her handiwork and smiled. She realised a blue butterfly had been resting on her hood during the photo, and fit the mise en scene perfectly. She allowed herself a cheer at her incredibly good luck, before putting her camera and tripod away.
"Kate will love this." Max smiled and pocketed the photo. She left her bedroom and quickly went to Kate's room and knocked on her door.
"Max!" Kate smiled as she opened the door. "Come on in!" She stepped back to let Max in and closed the door behind her.
Max looked around. The last time she had been in this room was, from her perspective, nearly 5 years ago, right before Kate went up to the roof to- Max shook off the thought. The room had been so much more dark and grim than it was now. Now, it seemed like a lively place full of hope, and it was clean as well. Kate's little white bunny sat in its cage, nibbling away at some lettuce Kate had fed her.
"Hi little guy." Max bent down to meet the bunny's eye level. The bunny glanced at her briefly before continuing to nibble. Max giggled.
"She's been a bit nervous since we moved here, but apparently she's settled in quicker than I have." Kate smiled.
"You're having trouble settling in?" Max asked, immediately concerned.
"I mean... isn't everyone?" Kate replied, a tad confused at Max's reaction. "New home, for some of us new school, it can be frigthening."
Max nodded and then looked away. She hadn't meant to react in such an abrupt manner, but with what she knew about Kate and her future, Max couldn't help but worry for her. "He hasn't gotten to her yet." Max told herself internally. "And, with any luck, he won't."
"You okay, Max?"
"Yeah." Max said, shaking her head slightly. "Just kinda dawned on me, what you just said, you know?"
"I understand that. You seemed excited when I first saw you."
"I was mostly excited to be back in Arcadia. I lived in Seattle for the past 5 years."
"Excited? For Arcadia?" Kate laughed and shook her head. "And here I thought I was dull."
"I came back for photography." Max smiled. "And my friends."
Kate nodded. "You do seem to be quite familiar with Rachel and her friend."
"Girlfriend." Max quickly corrected. "Yeah. They're my best friends. Chloe, Rachel's girlfriend, and I grew up together." Max looked out the window sadly. "When I moved to Seattle, Chloe was lonely. Good thing Rachel swooped in and saved the day, or..."
"Or...?"
Max shook her head. "Nothing. I don't really know what I was saying. Anyway, about that tea...?"
"Oh! Of course." Kate snapped her head upwards slightly, standing up straight. "I'll go get the water. Stay here and look after Alice." Kate picked up her electric kettle and swiftly left the room. Within seconds, she returned and started boiling the water.
"How come you have your own electric kettle?" Max asked, realising how dumb of a question that was after she said it.
"For tea, of course!" Kate smiled. Max figured she didn't have the heart for rude sarcasm, which Max greatly appreciated at that exact point. There were a few seconds of silence as Kate poured the tea. Max slowly sipped it, feeling the warmth enter her body. She hadn't felt cold beforehand, but she felt a difference nonetheless.
"This is really nice. Thank you, Kate." Max smiled.
"You're very welcome, Max." Kate smiled in return. She looked up behind Max, confused. Max turned around to see where Kate was looking.
Her bedroom door was open ajar.
"C-" Kate paused to clear her throat. "Come in!" Kate said cheerily. She was clearly nervous.
"Hi..." Victoria Chase nervously walked in. Instantly Max was on high alert.
"What the hell is she doing in KATE'S room?" Max felt her face get hot, and it wasn't from the tea. She urged herself to calm down.
"Not to be rude, but what are you doing in my room?" Kate asked.
"Oh I uh..." Victoria looked away. "I hear conversation, and I was feeling a little lonely. Do you mind if I join you guys?"
Max was about to protest, but she looked hard at Victoria's face. She really did look upset. She looked a little homesick, a little bored, but mostly worried. This concerned Max greatly. What could have swayed Victoria so hard to spend time with such a lowlife as Max herself?
"Of course. I think I might have enough tea for another cup." Kate said, kind as hospitable as usual. Naturally, their relationship had not yet severed, and Max was hoping it never will. With how Victoria is behaving, Max might not need to intervene so much. It was... odd.
"That would be nice, thank you."
"You look worried." Max spoke up, and immediately regretted it. "Is there something you wanna talk about?"
Victoria sighed. "I know you must think I'm a total bitch, Max."
"No. Not at all."
"Well if you're friends with Rachel, you have a right to think that. I treated her like shit."
"Is this a conversation I should not be a part of, or...?" Kate whispered so only Max could hear. Max reassured her it would be fine.
"I had a bad experience at high school, and it took me a while to stop blaming Rachel. 'Perfect little Rachel'. I hate to say it, but I get jealous easily."
Max blinked. Hadn't taken long for that to come forward.
"Rachel and Chloe helped me see past that. And they often talked about a young girl who inspired them a lot. One who was incredibly powerful. She was always kind, always sincere, and she never let you down. They said they only got to where they were because of those qualities. Because of you, Max."
Max's heart swelled and she smiled, but she said nothing
"And they said I could do that, too. Instead of hiding behind a veil of jealousy and fake friends." Victoria continued.
"What do mean?" Kate asked. "Who was that girl I saw you talking to earlier?"
"Oh. Taylor." Victoria nodded. "She's nice, but we're only friends because we're in the same circle. You guys aren't, unfortunately."
Max shrugged. "Good thing I don't care."
"And that's why I admire you. Chloe told me you just didn't care. And I wish I could too, but I just can't."
"So what, Rachel and Chloe stopped you from being an overly-jealous and cliquey bitch just like that?" Max snapped her fingers as emphasis.
"That's awfully blunt, but yes."
Kate narrowed her eyes at Victoria. "You haven't touched your tea. That's not why you're worried, is it? You're not worried at not making real friends, or losing the ones you have-"
"I am actually. Thank you for reminding me."
"I mean, that's not what's on your mind right now."
"You're very perceptive."
"I'm a Christian. I'm supposed to be judgemental."
Victoria laughed. "No, truth be told. I'm worried about... Nathan." She looked at Max as she said his name. Max's bones turned cold.
"Yeah? How come?" Max asked.
"I called him like three times today, but he didn't answer his phone. He called me later on to tell me to leave him alone."
"You think he's cutting you off?" Kate asked
"I think he's hiding something."
Max's hand instinctively went to her pocket, feeling the stolen phone. "What could he be hiding?"
"You mean apart from how much his mental health is deterioriating?" Victoria raised an eyebrow at Max. Max pursed her lips. "I don't really know."
"Are you guys... dating?" Kate asked hesitantly.
Victoria laughed. "God! Could you imagine?" She shook her head. "Nathan can barely comprehend his thoughts at times. I can't expect him to deal with complicated feelings like admiration. Let alone love."
"Do you want us to do something?" Max asked.
Victoria shook her head and sipped her tea. "Right now I just need the company. I mean, REAL company. People who will keep me honest, down to Earth."
"And you went for a lowlife and a devout Christian?"
"You two seem like the people who will keep me sane. You don't immediately hate me, but you don't automatically fawn over me because of my, or my parents, statuses."
"Sounds like high school was lonely." Kate said.
"High school was my fault." Victoria waved her hand. "I projected my insecurities that I got from my parents. I know photography, or any form of art for that matter, is a brutal industry that requires a lot of work and in many cases, drama. But that doesn't excuse high school."
"I wish we could just live in a world where people could do what they wished, when they wished." Kate said sadly.
Victoria grimaced and said nothing.
"Do you think there's any way to help Nathan? Without his father knowing?"
"How on Earth do you know so much about Nathan, Max?" Victoria narrowed her eyes.
"I'm an Arcadia born and bred." Max leaned back in her chair. "Who doesn't know everything there is to know about Nathan? Besides, I'm friends with Rachel. No doubt he would have told her his whole life story."
"Even Rachel wouldn't have heard jack shit about Nathan's father."
"Oh my God, Victoria." Max rolled her eyes. "Everyone knows he's a piece of shit. And even if I did know more than I'm letting on, we should be concerned about Nathan here, not about what I know."
Victoria scowled, but nodded. "I can't afford to not trust people. But I gotta be cautious, too. For Nathan's sake."
Max nodded.
"You seemed to just have a knack for reality checks. So if you could help Nathan when I can't, I'm sure he'll really appreciate it."
Max gritted her teeth, trying not to remember her close shave in Nathan's room just over an hour ago. "Yeah. That sounds good."
"We should probably all exchange numbers." Victoria suggested, and Kate agreed. Max was hesitant. A part of her still truly despised Victoria, but she could clearly see that she changed, and so drastically too. Max wasn't sure how the hell Victoria completely flipped her moral compass the way she did, but it must have been Rachel's influence. Max quelled her pride and gave Victoria her number. "Cool." Victoria smiled when everyone was done. She looked at Max and Kate carefully. "You know? As simple as this is, I think I might really enjoy these tea sessions. Assuming you guys continue them in the future."
"Of course, you're welcome any time, Victoria." Kate said, slightly unsure.
Victoria smiled weakly. "Thanks. You guys seem like good people. True friends, you know?"
"You really mean that?" Kate asked, a slight look of fear in her eyes.
"Of course. I don't have anything to gain from lying." She looked away. "Not anymore." She looked back at Kate. "I should get going. Thanks for the tea, it was lovely."
"You're very welcome." Kate replied, and then Victoria left.
"Well that was weird." Max said.
"What do you mean?" Kate asked.
Max gestured to the door. "That's not Victoria. Not how I'd known her."
Kate look confused. "But... you didn't... know her..." Kate spoke slowly. "Before this week, I mean."
"I talk to Rachel and Chloe often when I was in Seattle." Max said. "They HATED Victoria. Victoria tried to sabotage Rachel's performance at The Tempest several years ago."
"That's awful, yes, but that was years ago. She said herself she acted like a... well. You know what she said. And she regretted it."
Max looked at the ground. "I can't bring myself to trust her. Not yet."
"Perhaps more tea sessions with her will quell your doubt."
Max chuckled. "How eloquent."
"I do enjoy reading." Kate smiled. "Which reminds me: Do you want to read this? I've finished it. It's good." Kate reached into a small cubby hole and brought out a copy of The October Country by Ray Bradbury.
Max stared at it as she took it from Kate's giving hands. She said nothing for the longest time.
"You alright? You look a little spooked." Kate said. "Do you recgonise it?"
"In a sense." Max replied finally. "It's... awfully fitting that I see this today."
"Why is that?"
"I can't really explain. All I can say is it's... strange."
"Life is strange, Max."
Max resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "You read that somewhere, too?"
"No, just came up with it on the fly."
Max laughed. "You know, Kate, I think we're going to be good friends." Max placed her hand on Kate's arm, and suddenly wanted nothing more than to pull her in and hug her, tell her she was sorry, that she should have done more, that she shouldn't have let her walk up to the roof. But she didn't do any of that.
Kate placed her other hand on top of Max's. "I think so too. Let's do this again some time."
"That would be nice." Max stood up, and walked back to her room. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kate taking the cups and walking to the bathroom. She suddenly felt really tired. She went into her room and collapsed onto her bed. Within seconds she was asleep.