Chapter IV: First Day


-AN:

Heya fan-fic folks!

Firstly, woops. This was supposed to go out with the last update, but for some bizarre reason it didn't. I only recently. Sorry 'bout that, and here's the fourth chapter of The Island.

Secondly, the votes for which story you want next is still open. I'm happy to let y'all decide which two stories from my profile you'd like me to do next. If you have any questions or you think one of the summaries needs improving, please throw me a PM. I've finally worked out how the system works now, so I can actually say that and mean it. :)

Finally, the only other thing going up in this update is a Blackwell Job chapter. But that needs some final edits and it's like, half past midnight here and I've been out all day. So, I'm exhausted and basically, I'm not really together enough to edit properly. I'll do it tomorrow and upload the Blackwell Job then.

Thanks for reading fan-fic-folks and, as always, please review.

Lycan13: On the mark as ever, Lycan. They're out of the way, pretty quiet and nobody goes there. If she can't afford a secret lair under a club, this seemed the next best thing.

Aaron Leach: Thank you! I hope the rest keep up the awesome for you. :)

GrumpyCat42: Wow… The pun game there is 'on point', or whatever the phrase is. I have actually had Bear Steaks before and they were really nice, so maybe Max will go hunting some grizzlies for lunch. :) No comment on the mole people though. You'll have to wait until the new Incredibles movie comes out. :D

Guest: Thank you. Yeah, I saw Hanna (Fantastic Movie) and just knew I had to have my Max do that.

Time Dragon: Like the lady said, with Style and Grace. :) You pick up a lot of abilities surviving outside civilization.

Angela3000: Sames. It just sort of... happened. Definitely keep an eye out for it in later chapters. :D

Thank you. I'm glad people like that. I felt like I needed another chapter of just Chloe and Max reconnecting again before I started bringing in other characters.

MaxNeverMaxine: Thanks! I figured Max needed a lair and somewhere out of the way worked. Plus, Oregon has a pretty reduced mining industry nowadays, so I figured Arcadia would probably have a closed mine.

Momijifan Low-Ki: It certainly did. And hey, you'll have to keep reading and find out. :)

Eye of sparta: Thank you. I'm quite enjoying writing this. Still have no clue what I'm doing, but it's fun. :)

I'm thinking there won't be time powers in this story. Max as Green Arrow is already powered enough, IMO. I might change my mind, but currently it's looking like she'll just be a superhero, sans the temporal manipulation.

I really have no idea what you mean by time period between chapters. In story, it varies depending on the context. I might skip a couple of weeks if it seems appropriate, or I might have each chapter set directly after the other, it depends. If you're enquiring as to my update schedule, I usually update every saturday, depending on my personal schedule. I always prioritise The Blackwell Job and sometimes I don't have the time to write for the other stories. If something you want to read doesn't come up on saturday, check my profile and/or the latest update of The Blackwell Job for details.

And honestly, I have no idea when I'll get to detailing what happened on the Island. I don't really plan this schedule-wise too far in advance. I have a mental list of things I want to do and I know how I want to end this, but I don't know when I'll get there. You've got some interesting ideas though, I might adapt a couple of them. :)


"Seriously, dude. How do you have this much shit?" I wheezed as I helped Max carry this hella large crate up the stairs to the Blackwell Dorm.

Max shrugged, completely fine with carrying the fucking pile of bricks or dead whales or whatever the fuck is in this thing. "Even on an island, you still accumulate stuff. And your mom bought me new clothes."

We head in the door and get hit by the four different songs from four different genres that're playing in this place. Max stops, listening for a sec. "This place is loud."

I nod, trying not to drop the box. I seriously need to hit the weights or something, 'cause I'm hella gonna drop this crate soon. "Yeah. Like a slumber party, a cheap motel and a girls gone wild movie all packed into one." I shake my head. "So fucking glad I'm not stuck with this shit anymore."

Max smirks. "That bad, huh?"

I nodded. "Hella. Wait till you meet the Queen Bitch herself. She's probably hovering around this place somewhere, waiting so she can be hella bitchy to you."

I kinda fumble with the box for a second, then hoist it up, trying to like, lever my arm against it or something. "We better get moving or I'm hella gonna drop this fucking thing."

Max nodded and I turned and immediately ran into this tiny girl. Literally. Knocked her over and everything…

Woops.

Max quickly sidestepped us both, only just missing getting knocked over too. Fuck, she has hella fast reflexes. She even catches the fucking box.

She stands back and smirks as the other girl and I kinda untangle ourselves. She puts the crate down and helps the other girl up. I scramble to my feet too. "You ok? I am so fucking sorry."

I get a good look at the girl then. She's pretty short, like Max, but has a hella huge bun of dirty blonde hair sitting on her head. It definitely gives her an extra couple of inches.

She smiles and brushes me off. "I'm okay. The floor is more comfortable than it looks." She looks me over. "Are you moving in? I don't recognise you from class."

I shake my head. "Nah. I got kicked out of this place years back. I'm just the muscle." I nod to Max. "She's the new girl."

Kate steps forward and sticks out her hand. "It's very nice to meet you. I'm Kate. Kate Marsh."

Max gives her a faint little smile and shakes her hand. "Max."

We all kinda stand around, not saying anything for a few seconds before Kate spots the pile of stuff Max left on the floor. "Omigosh, I'm so sorry, did I get in your way?"

Max shrugs. "More like we got in yours."

Kate smiles. "Still, I'm sorry." She looks down at her watch. "Omigosh, I'm late! I've got to go, I'm sorry!"

And she just rushes out the door past us. I snort. "I like her."

Max laughs.

We hit her room and dump her shit there. She slides the crate into a corner and starts unpacking from the bags we'd dumped on her bed in the last trip.

I flop down into her desk chair and watch her start unpacking her shit.

Max walks differently now. Like a panther or something. It's kinda cool to watch her prowl around the room. Weird though. I wonder what the fuck happened to make her walk like that? Like… a hunter.

I must've sat and watched her for a while, 'cause next thing I know, Max is shaking me. "Chloe? Did you fall asleep or something?"

I snort and twirl away from her, so I'm standing up. She takes the chair instead. "You're right. I really do have a lot of stuff."

I point a finger at her. "See? Told you so."

She rolls her eyes. I take a look around the room. "This place is still a shithole."

Max smiles and shakes her head. "When you've been living in a cave for five years, this is a palace."

I frown. "A cave, huh?" I grinned and look over at Max. "I bet that… rocked."

She groans. "Seriously?"

I laugh.

Suddenly, a dark shape appears in the doorway and dashes forward, punching me in the shoulder. "Chloe fucking Price, why the hell have you been ignoring me all day? What the hell is more important than..?"

She trails off when she sees Max sitting in the desk chair. I roll my eyes as the flirty little smile immediately appears on her face as she leans back, one hand going to her hip, eyes fixed to Max. "Hi."

Max raises one eyebrow. She looks at me, then at the new arrival. "Um. Hi?"

The 'intruder' steps forward, one hand thrust out to Max. "Hi. I'm Rachel."

Max stares at the hand for a second, then shakes it. "Max."

Rachel's eyes bulge. She looks at me, then at Max, then back at me. "Seriously?"

Max frowns at me. "Seriously?"

I shrug. "I might've mentioned you a couple of times."

Rachel scoffs. Bitch. "A couple of times? She barely ever shut up about"

I shut her up with a glare. She shrugged, giving me one of her hella annoying smug grins. Rach was fucking intolerable when she thought she was right. "What? You didn't. I feel like I know her already, you've said so much about her!"

Max doesn't look at either of us, keeping her eyes fixed on the wall. It's kinda cute, actually. She's still hella shy sometimes. "Um. There's still stuff I need in the truck. I'll leave you to…" She wafts a hand between us. "This."

We both watch Max leave. The minute the door closes, Rachel squeals "Oh my god, she is so CUTE!"

I roll my eyes. "Seriously, Rach?"

She rolls over and stares at me from the couch. "Hella serious." She smirks and tilts her head. "I wonder how far down those freckles go..?"

I snort. "Keep it in your pants, dude. Max is off limits."

Rachel puts a hand to her chest, hella offended. Drama Queen. "Chloe Price! It was entirely an academic interest." She winks and grins. "You know, for science."

Uhuh… I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. You're hella hoping for some 'experimentation', right?"

Rachel laughs, but turns it into a cough when Max walks in, a backpack on each shoulder, a duffel in one hand and my keys in the other. "Got it all, Chloe. Here's your keys."

She throws the keys. I catch them. I actually do, too, which is hella awesome. I glare at Rachel. She just laughs more.

Rachel watches as Max prowls around putting her shit away. I snort and elbow her. Stop Staring Dumbass! I mouth.

She shrugs and grins back. We have a weird, kinda hurried conversation like that until I frown, suddenly noticing the noise has stopped. We both turn to see Max standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed and watching us.

I grin sheepishly. "Hey Max. You done?"

She nods. Rachel beams. "Great!" She hops up from the couch and throws her arm over Max's shoulder. "Come on, I'll introduce you. It's the least I can do. Any friend of Chloe's is a friend of mine, right?"

I watch as Rach kinda pulls Max out of the room, then I just laugh and follow them out. Heh.


Rach poked her head into some girls room. "Hey Jules, Dana, you decent?"

She leans back and waves us in. "Come on in, Max!"

Max looks at me.

We walk in and see Rachel chatting with two girls. One grins when Max walks in and jumps up, throwing her arms around Max. "Hey! It's so nice to meet you. I'm Dana," She thumbs over her shoulder at the other girl. "And that one is Jules."

'Jules' nods. She seems kinda grumpy. "Hello, Max."

Rach is leaning back against one wall, watching them with a grin.

I stick to the doorway.

"So, Max, are you here for Mr Jefferson's class? I bet you are, you look like a photo-hound."

Max nods. "Yes, I am actually. He was one of my favourite photographers before…" She trails off. "W-When I was a kid."

"That's awesome! Me and Jules are in his class too. He's a really great teacher."

Max goes and sits in the desk chair and Dana lounges back on her bed again. Juliet frowns at Max. She opens her mouth to ask something, but Dana just keeps on going. From the hella irritated look 'Jules' throws her, I kinda get the idea this happens a lot.

Rach chips in. "Dana's a model, like me."

Dana snorts. "Nobody is a model like you, Rachel."

Rachel laughs. "I'll take that as a compliment."

Dana's eyes open hella wide. I could practically see the fucking lightbulb pop in above her head. "You know, Max. Maybe we could model for you sometime!"

Max smiles and nods. "That'd be so cool! You two would make awesome models. You both have amazing faces!"

Rachel raises an eyebrow and Dana and Juliet share a grin. "Smooth, Casanova."

Max flushes, eyes stuck to the floor. I step into the room. "Why don't you show them your pictures?"

Max nods and flees. She didn't have much chance to be social and shit on the island, right? Pretty sure she was fucking relieved to be outta there. Who says I'm not all sensitive and shit? I got Max's back.

Rachel makes a joke about something and they laugh. I hear 'Vortex Party' and just tune that shit out.

Max comes back a couple of minutes later and basically throws the little box of polaroids (Joyce kept all of Max's old pictures. Put them next to the box of Dad's old shots in the attic.) at Dana & Jules. I watch as they all start chattering enthusiastically about Max's pictures. Even Rach gets drawn in. They all seem to like her stuff though.

I turn around to tell her that and Max is just gone. I sigh, heading back to her room. I push open the door and…

Yep. The fucking window is open. And that hella big, hella heavy crate is gone, too.

I frown...

"How the fucking fuckity fuck did she get that thing out the window?"