After the biggest (and only) tornado in Oregon history had demolished Arcadia Bay, the students of Blackwell had been sent home indefinitely. This left Victoria, with no diploma, being sent back to Seattle. Once she turned eighteen, she left her parents home and moved into her own apartment while she took classes to complete her diploma, paid for by her parents. She'd kept in contact with no one from Arcadia Bay, save for a Christmas card to Max, but when it turned up in national news that multiple bodies had been found around the Bay, including that of Rachel Amber, it all seemed to come back to haunt her all at once. She'd been friends with Rachel at one point, despite their little publicity stunt of a rivalry. Victoria had even been somewhat close to Chloe, until Chloe's obsession with finding Rachel drove Victoria to drop her from her life. And it was Chloe she was thinking of when her phone went off.
[TEXT: Chloe Price]: vic, you live in seattle right? max and i drove up here but she's staying with her parents and it was fun but i need my own place since the bay got trashed. might stay up here at least to finish school.
[TEXT: Victoria Chase]: ugh. yes I live here. no I didn't ask how you were doing/what you were doing.
[TEXT: Chloe Price]: you can ask when I come over (;
[TEXT: Victoria Chase]: I didn't invite you. nice try.
[TEXT: Chloe Price]: on my way
[TEXT: Victoria Chase]: you don't have my address, genius. and I don't want you to have it so don't ask
[TEXT: Chloe Price]: maybe think about that before you send max christmas cards
Shit. Just as the situation processed in her mind, there was a knock at her door. Victoria inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, trying to tell herself it was a miracle Chloe and Max had survived the storm, and Chloe deserved a degree of sympathy. Despite this running inner monologue, Victoria's first words as she opened the door and laid eyes on Chloe weren't exactly sympathetic. "Nice roots, Price. What, Walmart run out of Try-Hard Blue?"
"Missed you too, Vic. Good to know your skank ass made it out of Arcadia Bay." The shameless grin adorning Chloe's lips as she brushed by Victoria and into her home only served to annoy Victoria further. Grit teeth and balled up fists marked Victoria's body language as she followed Chloe around, but she relaxed and smiled as Chloe seemed to be impressed. In Seattle, once again in her circle of well off friends, impressing anyone was so much harder than it had been in Arcadia Bay. So, seeing Chloe's wide eyes and nods of approval were enough of an ego boost to make Victoria smug. Crossing her arms and shifting her weight to cock her hip just so, Victoria smirked. "I know, right? Turns out having rich absentee parents really does pay off. But... You don't have those. So what the fuck are you doing here?"
"Jeez, Vicky. Your concern is really sweet. I don't know, yet. I was hoping you could, like, help me... With money..." Victoria didn't dignify that with a response, just giving Chloe a pointed, unimpressed glare. Only half listening as Chloe plead her case, telling Victoria about how she didn't have money to get back to Arcadia Bay and had nowhere to go and was clearly so desperate, eventually a light bulb went off in Victoria's mind and she held up a hand to silence Chloe. "Hold on. You dropped out, right? So you, like, don't even have your high school diploma? Literally no one worth working for will even look at you. Unfortunately, I'm in the same position, although not by choice, clearly. Here's the deal: I'm not completely heartless. You don't have to go back to your cardboard box on the street. But you have to be doing something. Going to school, for example. So... Get on your shitty phone, and find a college to go to."
Victoria waved her hand in a shooing motion, turning on her heel and picking up Chloe's ratty duffel bag with a disgusted wince. She didn't want Chloe to stay, but good manners, and Chloe's status as a charity case, dictated she at least give her a chance. Tossing the bag into the empty guest room, Victoria shut the door nearly all the way and turned to go to her room. She'd been at her computer for maybe a half hour when Chloe barged in without knocking, looking ridiculously proud as she brandished her phone screen and showed off the form to Victoria. Victoria looked from Chloe's obnoxious grin to the screen, taking the phone suspiciously and immediately took a sharp breath. "Chloe, that's... You really had to enroll at my school?" Resisting the urge to haul off and hit Chloe, Victoria clenched her jaws, closed her eyes and took a moment to compose herself. "Fine. This works. You can stay, I guess. But keep things neat, and I swear to God if you get me evicted I'll kill you myself."
Chloe just shrugged and grinned, adjusting her beanie absentmindedly before giving her a sarcastic wave. "Whatever, later roomie."