Pricefield - Time Warriors

Chapter 4: Life Is Boring

Some minutes later, the tears finally stopped and so I reluctantly extricated myself from the tangle of limbs and messy hair that we'd become during the shared breakdown. Glancing over at my phone, I watched as it started blowing up with texts from Warren. I groaned and resisted the urge to fling it across the room, instead opting to make myself as presentable as possible.

After-all, there was still a lot to take care of. Annoyingly, one of those things was Warren's flash drive, which meant dealing with Dana and Juliet's drama, which also meant sneaking into Victoria's room once more. It's strange how once you are confronted by the reality of murders and psychopaths, the simple everyday things seem so boring and pointless in comparison. Sadly, we have to at-least maintain a sense of normality for today otherwise we risk tipping our hand far too early.

I stood up and stretched, then walked over to my desk and pulled out a sneakily hidden box of tissues that I kept on-hand for the many times I'd cried over my inability to visit Chloe over the past month. Picking out a few, I looked over at Chloe who was sat on the edge of the bed attempting to wipe her face with her tank top. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the box and chucked it into her lap before sitting back down.

I cleared my throat a few times, then spoke. "So, now that we're done being mushy, I suppose you'd like to know what you missed while we finish cleaning ourselves up?"

Chloe looked up and nodded at me, so I continued. "Well, when I first arrived I almost got myself shot running head-first into Nathan outside the bathroom." I put my hands up to placate Chloe's shocked expression. "Yeah, that was certainly awkward. Though when the other-you finally showed up, you'll be glad to know that our pirate code-phrase thing worked perfectly. She actually remembered the counter-phrase too and followed no questions asked, which I wasn't really expecting. However, on our way to my dorm, we ran into Victoria exactly like it happened to me last time, remember? Except you were with me, and... well, you may have broke her nose after she called your Kari Price one too many times. I had to rewind just to keep you from getting your ass arrested." The smirk that was forming on Chloe's face got wiped away in an instant. "So instead, I took control and might've caused Victoria's brain to explode by being nice to her. Speaking of which, I'll be paying her a visit at midnight to have a proper chat with her."

Chloe rose an eyebrow. "Planning on taming the Queen Bitch are you? She'd probably kick you out before you even manage to say two words, so good luck with that."

I sighed. "Chloe, she's going to be one of his targets. We know this now. So I have to do something. I don't know what I'll say but I have to try."

Chloe's expression softened. "I know, Max. Stupid question considering my history with her, but do you want me to come with you? You know, for moral support or whatever."

I shrugged. "Maybe. We'll cross that bridge when it gets closer to midnight. For now though, we have other things to deal with. You ready to go?"

Chloe put down her tissue and glanced into my mirror. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess. Why, what for?"

I faked a yawn. "Well, we need to act like everything is fine. Maintain appearances, that sort of thing. Which means I need your help conquering the boring everyday life here at Blackwell." I beckoned Chloe to follow me as I peeked my head into the hallway.

Juliet was sat outside Dana's room with her back against the door. "Huh. That didn't happen last time." I thought.

Then, suddenly the door leading to the entrance stairwell was flung open. Through it came one very upset-looking Kate Marsh, who stormed off to her room. Frowning, I pulled my phone out and checked the time, then cursed when I realized we'd spent way too long in my room crying our eyes out. In-fact, I'd completely forgotten about Kate and David's confrontation until now, and there is no way I'm going to let Kate cry because of David.

Chloe tugged on my arm to get my attention. "What's wrong, Max?"

I closed the door and turned around to face Chloe. "We're behind schedule thanks to that crying session we had. I think I'll need to rewind but I'm not sure how long. I'm sorry."

Chloe frowned slightly before grabbing hold of my hand. "Then let's see if you can take me with you. I already came through a photo jump so surely a rewind would be easy in comparison. Right?"

I rolled my eyes at her. Yeah sure, you're the science nerd, not me."

Chloe snorted. "Shut up, hipster."

I bumped shoulders with her, then tightened my grip on her hand. "Okay, Chloe. Lets' give it a shot. I don't know what's going to happen or what it'll feel like for you, so brace yourself, alright?"

Chloe nodded. "Ready. Hit it, Super-Max."

Taking a deep breath, I threw out my hand and pulled.

The instant I did so, there was a searing pain in my head that caused my knees to buckle. If not for the death-grip on Chloe's hand, I would've collapsed. I'd never experienced something as painful as this, not even when my powers failed trying to reach Kate on the roof. I imagine that one was due to overuse, whereas this felt more like a brick wall stopping me from rewinding through it.

Blinking through the pain, I glanced over at Chloe and saw she was probably in just as much pain as me. Time appeared to have stopped when I hit this invisible barrier, but at-least Chloe was still moving, so technically it worked.

Chloe looked up at me and spoke through gritted teeth. "This is so weird. And painful. Fuck it hurts. I don't know what this thing feels like to you, but for me it's more like a muscle, for lack of a better word. Soft and squishy. if you rewind hard enough I can push through. No idea how I know that, I just do."

Nodding slightly, I obeyed. Tightening my hold on time, I pulled as hard as I could. Time seemed to stutter as I felt us repeatedly ramming into this brick wall, or muscle, or whatever it was. After a few seconds of this, suddenly there was a sound resembling a loud pop and the pain vanished. Time started to rewind like normal. Actually, better than normal. This felt smoother, more precise, like I had more control over my power now that we'd broken through that thing. Glancing at Chloe, she was watching in awe as the ghost of our past selves moved in reverse and collapsed back into a crying heap on my bed. I watched the time on my phone as it sped backwards. We only needed something like ten extra minutes, but it felt like I could rewind for ages with Chloe at my side. Still no pain, no nosebleeds or headaches, nothing. Once we'd gone back far enough, I relinquished my hold on time and let it continue forward, dropping my hand.

I grabbed Chloe by the shoulders and spun her around to inspect her face. She also appeared to be fine. Well, unless you count the fact that she was speechless for once as a bad thing. Smirking, I playfully flicked her nose and laughed as she yelped in response.

"You okay there, Chloe? I didn't turn your brain to mush or anything?"

Chloe blinked and licked her lips a couple of times. "Yeah... I'm okay, Max. Can I just say though, that was fucking amaze-balls! Is it always like that?"

I grinned at her. "If you ignore the random spots of pain, yes. You saw exactly what I see. It takes a while to wrap your head around it, but you get used to it."

Chloe nodded. "Well, I'm just glad you didn't have to rewind away our big conversation. Or rather, at-least we both remember it happening."

I put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Yeah, me too. Now let's go Chloe, we're on the clock here."

I pulled open the door and stepped out into the hallway, waited for Chloe to shuffle her way through, then locked it behind us and put the key back in my pocket. Looking down the hall, I saw Juliet banging on Dana's door and arguing with her just like before. Right on time. Deciding to speed this up a little, I crossed over to Victoria's room, dragged Chloe inside as inconspicuously as possible and closed the door behind us.

Chloe took one look around the room before pretending to vomit in disgust. I whacked her in the arm to make her stop. She rose an eyebrow at me and asked, "So why are we standing in Victoria's room? Can I trash it? Please let me trash it."

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head at her. "Behave Chloe. You saw Juliet down the hall, right? Well, she's locked Dana in her room because she thinks she was sexting her boyfriend. She wasn't. Victoria was. We're here for proof so that I can get Warren's flash drive back from Dana without having to break down her door."

Chloe groaned at the mention of Warren.

I giggled at her. "Easy there Chloe. No need to be jealous. Yes, he has a hardcore crush on me. Now that I know that, it's just made my interactions with him so much more awkward because-" I stepped into Chloe's personal space and stared her down. "He is only a friend. I just have no idea how to let him down gently without hurting him since he's not my type. Understand?"

She nodded slightly before looking away in embarrassment. I smirked inwardly and took a lot of satisfaction from the blush forming on her face.

Stepping away, I turned around and went straight for Victoria's laptop. Navigating to the incriminating evidence, I hurriedly printed it off and grabbed the sheet of paper.

Chloe was chuckling at something behind me. Looking around, I saw her standing at one of the shelves and staring at Victoria's glow in the dark doll.

"What's so funny, Chloe?"

Chloe pointed at the doll. "Victoria acts all high-and-mighty but she's a closet anime nerd. Holy shit."

I sighed. "Yes Chloe, you're finally realizing that she's not actually the evil person she pretends to be. Now come on, lets go before we get caught red-handed laughing at Victoria's nerd status."

I cracked open the door to check if the coast was clear – it was – then we casually walked out, shut the door behind us once more and headed down the hall towards Juliet who was still shouting at Dana on the other side of the door.

"Juliet Watson, you be nice! Read this and open the door."

Juliet frowned at me before taking the paper. One quick glance later, and realization dawned on her face. She opened Dana's door mumbling several apologies and agreeing to do her laundry before walking away.

Dana invited me in to get the flash drive while Chloe opted to wait in the hall. I walked over to her desk and picked it up, inserting it into her laptop to check everything was still there like before, then pulled it out and put it in my pocket. Saying a quick goodbye to Dana (Sorry Dana, no time to chat!), I headed back into the hall and motioned for Chloe to follow me outside.

Once we stepped out through the entrance door, Chloe grabbed my arm. "Dude, what's the rush?"

I huffed in response. "Sorry. Uh, David's probably harassing Kate right about now. Gotta go rescue her from him."

Chloe growled angrily. "Oh hell no. She's going through enough as it is. It's time we put step-dick in his place once and for all."

With that said, we rushed off towards the passageway leading from the dorms to the main quad. As expected, David was in the middle of laying into Kate when I walked up to them.

Glaring at David, I told him, "Leave Kate alone, she's done absolutely nothing wrong. If you got over your paranoia for a second you'd see that she's innocent in your delusions. Stop bullying her and start doing your job properly."

Kate stepped back towards me with relief and gratitude etched into her smile.

David frowned at me and opened his mouth to speak when Chloe marched up and cut him off. "Isn't trying to order me around enough of a power trip for you, dude? Now you're harassing my friend and her friend? You just don't know when to stop, do you?"

David turned to face Chloe and sighed in frustration. "Damn it Chloe, you're not allowed on campus. How I go about doing my job has nothing to do with you, now get out of here-" He turned his attention to me before continuing. "You too Max. This isn't over."

Chloe was so pissed, I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. "Screw you, David. I'm making it my business. You're such a paranoid creep. Constantly spying on everyone, thinking they're doing something illegal." She narrowed her eyes into slits and prodded a finger into his chest. "I know about your cameras, David. So I'm giving you two options right now. Option one: You stop being such an upright jerk, be nice to me and my friends, actually make an effort to learn how to handle a step-daughter like me instead of treating me like a military recruit... And I'll let you take the cameras down without a fuss, so long as you tell Mom about them yourself. Option two: I go straight to Mom and tell her about the cameras myself, and for once I will make damn sure you get kicked out of our lives for good. I can't believe you violated her privacy like that, never-mind my own. You are absolutely disgusting. Now what's it going to be, David?"

David simply stood there with a stunned expression. Eventually, he blinked and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "I'll go talk to Joyce. For what it's worth, I'm sorry, Chloe. I promise I'll do better." Then he turned around and wandered off, muttering to himself.

As soon as he was gone, I was blind-sided by blonde hair. Kate was hugging me. "Thank you, Max-" Then she turned to Chloe and gave her a hug. "And thank you, uh... Chloe? What you both just did for me means more than you could ever know. I have to go now, but again, thank you."

I put a hand on Kate's arm to get her attention and gave her a smile. "I, no we, are both here for you. Always. I suggest you take a look at your room slate, I left you a little something. We'll come see you later too, okay? We're well overdue a tea-date anyway."

Kate brightened considerable at that. "I'd like that, Max. Thanks. I'll see you both later." Then she turned around, waving at us as she walked off.

I turned my gaze towards Chloe, who was still smiling at Kate's retreating form. "You okay there Chloe? I didn't expect you to go off on David like that, not so soon anyway."

Chloe glanced at me. "Kate's smile really is infectious, isn't it? But, uh... Yes, I'm fine Max. Besides, I think that was a long time coming. The only reason I gave him a chance to redeem himself is because he saved your life when I couldn't."

I put a hand on her back and nodded. "Yeah. Now, our next stop is... Warren. Yay."

Chloe snorted. "Okay I guess we should just get this over and done with then."

I sighed and started heading over to the parking lot with Chloe pretending to lag behind and stall for time.

After being forced to drag Chloe halfway across campus, we finally made it to the parking lot where Warren was waiting.

Chloe made a big show of throwing her arm around me and giggled when Warren's brows furrowed upon seeing it. Upon reaching him, I flashed him a half-smile. "Here's your flash drive, Warren."

Warren nodded and pocketed his flash drive. "Hey Max. So uh, there's a drive-in with a planet of the apes marathon and I was wondering-"

Chloe cut him off. "Sorry dude, we have too much shit to do. She doesn't have the time to go to a drive-in."

Warren rose an eyebrow at her and turned back to me. "Uh... Max, are you sure? I'd really like it if you came."

Chloe growled under her breath. "Look man, you're not her type, okay?"

Warren's brow furrowed again in confusion. "I'm not sure I understand."

Chloe sighed and muttered just loud enough for me to hear, "Fucking hell he's just as dense as you are, Max."

I rolled my eyes at her.

Warren turned to me again. "Max, who even is this girl, I haven't seen her around before."

I cleared my throat. Oh. Well, this is Chloe, she's my-"

Chloe interrupted me by kissing my cheek and finishing my sentence for me. "Girlfriend. I'm her girlfriend. Is that clear enough for you? You're not her type, man. Just be her friend, okay?"

I could feel my cheeks instantly warming up, my whole face must've turned red. Warren's brows reached the top of his head upon seeing my face and his shoulders slumped. "Ah. I see. Well, alright then. Sorry to bother you, I guess I'll just go now. See you, uh... later, Max." Then he walked away in a daze.

My brain was too busy overloading at the fact Chloe had just kissed me, rather than asking me to kiss her as a dare, to even say anything to Warren. I could see Chloe smirking at me in my peripheral vision. She leaned in and whispered in my ear "Sorry, Max. That was just the easiest way to get rid of him. Come on, let's get you back to your dorm before you have a heart attack or something. Then we can go see Kate later, okay?"

The only response I could give was blinking, so Chloe just grabbed hold of my hand and began tugging me back towards my room.