Life is Strange
Fitting In
Chapter 1
The day was blazing hot as the heatwave tightened its grip on Arcadia Bay. It seemed to be never-ending and there were serious concerns about Oregon being hit with a drought. The government had already banned the use of hosepipes and car washing facilities, which had crippled Chloe's business. It wasn't a massive blow to them as most of her customers understood, but the custom it cost her in the long run was a bit of a concern. Still, with Max's photography business going ever stronger as the harsh sunlight granted some beautiful views over the water, it wasn't too much of a worry.
But that wasn't the thing on everyone's minds today as they sat there eating breakfast. This wasn't any breakfast, either. For Hope's first day of school, Chloe had wanted her to have a special breakfast. Max had quickly shot down her suggestion of burgers, saying that her breakfast needed to be healthy, and tried to make pancakes. That had been abandoned when Chloe had to get the step ladder out to get the first pancake off the ceiling and a metal scraper to get the second one off the floor. With a hungry seven-year-old at their table and time ticking, Max had caved and let Chloe make them burgers for breakfast under the condition that there was a salad filling included.
"Chloe!" Max snapped as the blue-haired woman placed a plate with two burgers on it in front of Hope, who instantly grabbed one and sunk her teeth in before anyone could take it away. "What did I say?"
"I did as I you said!" Chloe shrugged, winking at their daughter as she feigned innocence in a way that wouldn't have fooled a two-year-old.
"Fried onions do not count as salad!" Max retorted, glancing over to see Hope getting down to the last bite. There was a harsh pop as her jaw seemed to expand slightly. Not even noticing, she jammed the last piece of burger in her mouth and her jaw popped again, seeming to move back into position as she chewed it before managing to swallow the lot. Max could only let out a groan as she buried her face in her hands and thumped her head against the table. "Could she be any more your child? I swear to god..." Chloe burst into cackling laughter from her place at the cooker where she was flipping more burgers for her and Max.
"So, Hope..." Chloe said as she put the two burgers into their buns and started on more fried onions. "Are you looking forward to your first day of school?"
"It's hardly my first day." Hope replied, sounding confused as she ravenously tore another chunk out of her second burger.
"Not overall." Max nodded. "But there's a bunch of firsts this time around. New class now that you've moved up a grade, new family dropping you off and picking you up from the gates..."
"Yeah, I've never fitted in with the rest of my class." Hope said, her glum tone totally out of place as she seemed to dislocate her jaw again and jammed the last piece of burger in like last time. With that, she finished up and sat back as her stomach let out a growl. Chloe couldn't look away fast enough. Hope managed to turn the Bambi eyes on her before glancing at the frying pan.
"You seriously want more?" Max asked her, looking on in disbelief. Sighing in mock exasperation, Chloe got up and went back to the cooker.
"I told you pancakes would never be filling enough."
"Here." Max sighed, pushing her second burger over to the young girl. "I haven't touched it. I swear you've got hollow legs, young lady."
"Eh, she's a growing girl." Chloe shrugged before doing a double-take as Hope devoured the quarter-pounder in three bites. "That isn't quite natural though. We'll have to keep an eye on that. We're in hella trouble if she gets too fat."
"She's not going to get fat." Max replied. "You grew up eating like that and you never got fat."
"Oh, and you didn't?" Chloe asked incredulously. "Remember that one time when I was ill? Mom and Dad got us pizza and I couldn't face most of mine. You'd already finished yours and proceeded to eat the rest of mine too!" Hope burst out laughing at that and Max let out a breath as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I hadn't eaten since breakfast, remember?" Max reminded her. "And I got my just desserts for that."
"You did." Chloe grinned before turning to Hope. "She caught what I had and ended up in quarantine with me in my room for two days." She flashed the young girl a wink as Hope collapsed into a giggling fit.
"Right..." Max quickly changed the conversation as she got up from the table. "History lesson's over. Time to get you to school, young lady. Or are we forgetting anything?"
"I think there's something we haven't done." Chloe remembered as she gestured for Hope to follow her. That was when Max remembered it too.
When they'd first taken Hope home with them, one of the carers- Alison- had given her a goodbye gift in the form of a really adorable pendant. Unfortunately, the first day she wore it they discovered she was allergic to silver and nickel-based metals. They'd rushed her to the doctor who'd prescribed a cream to counter the irritation it had caused. And it was working, too. It was looking better from one day to the next.
"Okay, let's see it." Chloe said as she cracked the tube open. Max smiled to herself as she left her to it. She loved how good Chloe was with all of this. She could see why, too. She was desperate to ensure she could give Hope the childhood that was so cruelly snatched away from her. It was why she was so quick to offer her the chance to be called the name she wanted and while she was so easygoing while quietly staying strict on safety. But she also wasn't afraid to let the girl just have fun. If she ended up getting a few cuts and scrapes, so what? All kids did. If she broke her body early on, that was just a sign she was getting the best use out of it.
Ten minutes later, the car was pulling up outside the newly rebuilt Arcadia Bay Elementary. It had taken them six years to put the school back to rights. Clearly there was some justice in the world because every school had been completely flattened by the storm. When Max and Chloe had heard that, they hadn't been able to think of anything more poetic. And without Prescott money, they still hadn't finished rebuilding Blackwell.
"Okay, have fun in there, sweetie." Max said to her as she went to get out of the car. "And remember: don't lose your glasses! You can't see colour without them. We can replace literally anything else but we can't go forking out another three hundred for a new pair of those glasses. You guard those with your life, got it?"
"Got it." Hope nodded as she climbed out. She looked hesitant as she looked towards the school, so Max leaned out and gently took her by the shoulder.
"You got this. Okay?" Hope nodded and darted off in the direction of the school without another word. Max pulled herself back into the truck as Chloe ambushed her with a kiss. It didn't last long and they parted quickly, but Max could see her trying to hide an adrenaline surge.
"You are so good with the kids. I gotta be honest, it's kind of a turn on."
"Kind of?" Max probed. "You wanna see how motherly I can get when I put your ass to bed?"
"And when do I get to see this?" Chloe asked, a grin splitting her face.
"As soon as you get us home." Before Max had even finished her sentence, Chloe had floored the gas and sped off. If there was one thing Max had learned about Chloe's driving it was that, when it mattered, the speed limit could be relegated to a suggestion. And right now, Chloe wasn't in a suggestive mood.
Author's Note: Okay, so it's been a while. There have been several reasons for that. Some of them are personal and some of them are literally down to the fact that I didn't have any finished stories to upload. That changes now. I've been working on a couple of things including this and the sequel to Mirrored Life. And speaking of, it's time to address some guest comments from the reviews on that story since I can't PM people with answers to their questions and comments.
To MaxandChloe4ever: I'm glad you enjoyed the story. Yes, I did know about the Steph novel coming out next year. I also know that I'm going to be out hunting for it on day one because it's something I need to read. I noticed you mentioned the passage Sophie quoted in Chapter 9. Actually it was a blend of a lot of different things. If you're curious, there was some inspiration from Harry Potter with the Deathly Hallows story there. The first part was actually inspired by a line from the end of A Scanner Darkly. If you haven't seen that then I recommend checking it out. I saw the movie but I hear the book is amazing too if you can get your hands on it. I haven't seen much Fraiser but my dad used to watch it so I'll have to ask him about that episode you mentioned. If you haven't played Resident Evil Village yet, I'll give you fair warning: House Beneviento can cheerfully go and die. Again. If you've played it, you'll understand. If you haven't, you'll find out soon enough.
To the guest(s) that reviewed anonymously: the reviews read like the same person wrote them all and the time stamps match up but I don't like to assume. Either way, thanks for all kind words. It was great fun writing that story and I hope you'll love the sequel just as much.
To everyone else: Thanks to all of you for your continued support. My updates will be on Mondays and Fridays just like all my other multi-chapter stories. Hope you enjoy this story and I'll see you in the next chapter.