Pricefield - Time Warriors

Chapter 2: The Silver-Beard Surprise

After what seemed like forever, the whiteness began to fade with a whistling windy sound assaulting my ears as it receded into the background. The next thing I noticed was the buzzing of the overhead lights, the smell of disgusting bathroom soap, the feel of my Polaroid camera and the butterfly photo held in my hands. Realizing the last one, everything snapped into crystal-clear focus.

I hurriedly placed the photo into my bag to keep it safe if we ever needed a third re-do, glanced in one of the mirrors to see if my nose was bleeding – thankfully it wasn't – then practically sprinted out the bathroom door and ran right into Nathan Prescott in the hallway. Shit.

Nathan's eyes went wide in shock and I saw him rush to grab at the back of his waistband - no doubt where he hid his gun - before he saw who I was and slammed his hand into his jacket pocket instead. "Watch where you're fucking going, you twee bitch."

Trying to keep my own anger in check, I opted for one of my patented Max Caulfield apologies and mumbled a quick "Sorry!" before speed-walking away as inconspicuously as possible. I decided to hop around the corner and pretend to look at the Blackwell trophy cabinet while waiting for Chloe to appear, which would be any minute now.

Right on cue, Chloe stomped her way through the front doors, clearly on a mission. She didn't even look my way as she made her way to the bathroom down the hall. "Crap, it looks like Chloe didn't come through with me. I guess I gotta stop her... without my rewind this time, just in-case it does cause the storm. This is going to suck but she is so not dying today. Man, I really hope this pirate thing works."

Steeling myself for a painful reunion, I boldly stepped in-front of Chloe, stopping her from advancing any further.

"What the hell, get out of the way dude, I'm in the middle of someth-"

I watched as her eyebrows knitted in confusion for a split second, jump to the top of her forehead when she recognized who I was, then finally drop back down in anger.

"No fucking way. You. Of all people I run into today. You must have a lot of nerve to do this now... FIVE FUCKING YEARS, MAX CAULFIELD!"

Those last five words made me simultaneously flinch, drop my head down and shrink into myself, shattering my already broken heart into a thousand pieces all over again. "I should just let her rant. I deserve this, I deserve all of this." As soon as that thought popped up, I violently shook my head to get rid of it. "Later. I'm on my own mission, to save your ass again, Chloe." Gathering what little courage I had left, I looked up from the floor and stared her down.

Finally finding my voice, I spoke at barely a whisper. "I know, Chloe. I know I was and am a shitty friend. But I need you to listen to me. I know why you're here today. I know what you're going to do. You can't go into that bathroom, Chloe. It makes no sense but I need you to trust me. Please. Don't go in there."

If Chloe could frown any harder, she most certainly did. "You come out of nowhere after all this time, to tell me not to do something and expect me to listen to you, never mind trust you or even give a singe fuck about what you're saying? Go back to Seattle where you belong and leave me the fuck alone, you traitor."

And with that, she stepped around me and marched off towards the bathroom without a second glance backwards.

I just stood there and stared at her back for a solid two seconds before my brain managed to reboot. "Okay that went about as badly as I expected. Time for plan B."

Clearing my throat, I did something I very rarely do in public. I shouted. "CHLOE. ELIZABETH. PRICE. DON'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME!"

Breathing heavily, I watched as Chloe froze in her tracks, clearly not expecting the level of anger or pain in my voice, much less for me to shout at her. Chloe turned around, very slowly, and cautiously made her way back down the hall towards me. The expression on her face was hard to describe. There was still an angry fire in her eyes but everything else seemed to scream 'Did that really just happen?!'. She wasn't the only one, a lot of other students in the hallway were now giving me confused glances. I ignored them. Only one thing mattered right now. Chloe.

She stepped back into regular conversation range and hissed at me through gritted teeth. "What the hell do you want from me, Max? You have never raised your voice at me like that. Don't think I'll let you start doing it now, not when I should be the one shouting at you."

I sighed, swallowed the lump in my throat and replied with as much conviction as possible. "Chloe, I know I fucked up. I know you hate me. You have every right to ignore me like I ignored you. But if you still value our childhood memories from before I... abandoned you, what I am about to say should tell you how serious I am being right now."

I hesitated slightly and Chloe interrupted me with an impatient "Well? Spit it out, Max. I have shit to do."

Smiling sadly at her, I just decided to go for it and see what happens. "Silver-Beard's treasure has been stolen."

The myriad of expressions and emotions cycling on Chloe's face upon hearing those words almost made me burst out laughing. Almost. I needed her to take this seriously, so I stood there and watched, waiting patiently. She went from confusion to thoughtful, to realization then shock, to anger then fear, and finally... understanding.

"I, uh... What... Max, really?" Chloe coughed and licked her lips in an attempt to find her voice again, then glanced around and sheepishly spoke the counter-phrase, "Let's hoist the flag and load the cannons. We're going to war." Then she smirked and added, "Lead the way, Long Max Silver."

I breathed a sigh of relief and spun around, half dragging Chloe back towards the front doors of Blackwell before Nathan could come rushing out of the bathroom to shoot her anyway, which knowing my luck would probably happen. Throwing open the doors, we stepped outside into the chilly afternoon air.

Only when we reached the fountain did I realize that I was actually still here. There were no photographic boundaries from the moment I stepped out of the bathroom and changed things. I don't even remember doing anything with my powers that would cause it to let me stay. I haven't used them at all, yet. But since it seemed I was in-fact here to stay, I decided to head left towards the Prescott Dormitories (Ugh!) and take Chloe to my dorm room, something I never got to do the first time around. I wondered if she'd approve of it. I also wondered what came next. There was a lot to take care of, and I appeared to be on my own. Again. I shuddered at what that meant.

Thankfully, Chloe chose that moment to interrupt my thoughts. "Max, you should know I'm not actually allowed to be on campus. I kinda got expelled years ago."

I rose an eyebrow in response. "Normally I hate getting in trouble. But, well, right now I just don't give a shit. I want to show you my room. At-least we can talk in there."

There was a mischievous smirk on Chloe's face when she replied. "Oooh, is hipster Max turning into a rebel?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Oh if only you knew, Chloe."

It was at that moment when we walked around the corner onto the Girls' dormitory quad, I saw none other than Victoria Chase sitting on the steps leading into the dorm, flanked by Taylor and Courtney as usual. "Ugh, of-course I still have to deal with this crap." I groaned to myself.

Chloe heard me trying to hide the groan under my breath and glanced over at where I was looking. She scoffed. "Victoria's still a massive bitch, I take it?"

The face I made must've confused her since she rose a questioning eyebrow at me. "Oh she definitely is, don't get me wrong. But she acts that way because she's insecure about, well, everything. If she's not in control of it all, she probably thinks her life will fall apart."

Chloe shrugged. "Eh. That's interesting but doesn't excuse her from being such a cunt." She glanced to the side for a second before continuing. "You know, she used to treat me like shit when I came here. You should've seen her face the day I got expelled and went out with a bang. I tagged every inch of the bathroom you stopped me from entering and she walked in right as I was doing my 'walk of shame' out of the building. It was hilarious. I never could tell if she looked shocked at what I'd done or was admiring my balls of steel."

I grinned at her. "That sounds exactly like something you would do, I'm not even surprised. But uh, we kinda need to get past Victoria and her minions to reach my room. I have an idea how and I know you'll love it, but I don't really think she deserves it even if she was a bitch to you."

Chloe smirked at me. "Don't worry, I'm sure my presence will make her run off with her tail between her legs anyway without either of us having to do anything. But I swear, if she calls me Kari Price one more time I will kill her. Come on."

With that, she stomped off towards Victoria, making me half-run to keep up with her. Damn Chloe and her long legs.

Once we got near, Victoria looked up from her phone and glared at me. "Why look, if it isn't Max Caulfield, the selfie-ho of Blackwell-" I rolled my eyes at her. Then she noticed Chloe next to me and turned her attention to her instead. "Oh and the resident dropout too. You know you're not supposed to be here, how about I call security and get you kicked off campus? Wouldn't that be fun, Kari Price?"

I blinked and what happened next went so fast I almost missed it. Chloe stepped forward right into Victoria's personal space and straight up punched her in the nose, then shouted. "BITCHTORIA, FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME, MY NAME IS CHLOE PRICE!"

Victoria's nose appeared to be bleeding quite heavily. All three of the Vortex Club bullies were sat there in shock, none of them moved for several very long seconds. Eventually, Victoria sprang up and muttered something about finding security and having Chloe arrested for assault before marching off with Taylor and Courtney in tow.

Chloe was too busy staring at her already-bruising knuckles to notice my own surprise. She seemed to be shocked that she actually hit Victoria. Not that I blame her though. She kinda deserved it, if she's been egging her on for this long, I suppose. But this has probably just ruined any plans I had today.

I glanced down at my right hand - my rewind hand - and decided to get through this one obstacle without Chloe getting all punchy. So much for no rewinding. Even now, I could still feel time flowing through my hand, into my fingertips. Preparing myself for the strain, I mentally tapped into my powers, threw out my hand and pulled.