'Oh my god why?'

Her legs were starting to fall asleep beneath her, as was her butt. But no matter how hard she could try, there was no way she was going to get out of this chair. She was trapped here, against her will. Her breath slowed as she realized the situation she was in, telling herself to conserve energy, that she would need it to make it through this ordeal. It wouldn't be much longer now, it would all be over soon. Then Max could have sweet, sweet release.

'Fucking math. Why do I have to be here? I promise, I will never need to know this. Ever. I can add and multiply, I'm more than prepared for being an adult.'

It may have just been a side effect of being a time master, but Max couldn't help but to feel like she were slowly dying as each second passed. Desperation began to take over her body as it begged internally for something, anything at all to happen to break this monotony.

It was at that moment, Max felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

'Oh merciful dog. Whoever you are, thank you for rescuing me from twenty years of boredom.'

Max carefully sipped her phone out of her pocket and glanced down at the screen to see who it was that was texting her, to her surprise, it was Warren. Thankfully this would mean that the conversation may just last more than 2 or 3 texts before it took its natural course.

Warren: Yo there To-the-Max. How are you doing today?

Max: As fine as someone can while they're being beaten to death with useless math stuff

Max: Why would anyone ever need this? Ever. (-_- ; )

Warren: Without math you wouldn't have a phone like you do, Maximum dork ( T_T)\(^_^ )

Max: Who are you calling a Maximum dork? You're the one defending this crap. Also the one with a Schrodinger's Cat t-shirt. I rest my case, your honor.

Warren: You win again, Max. But math would be so much more interesting than this class right now. Woodshop is horrible T^T

Max: Without lamp's, there would be no light ;)

Warren: Did you just quote The Breakfast Club at me? o_0

Max: Seemed fitting, you're the one gushing about math. If you love it so much, marry it.

Warren: Maybe I will (~_^)

Max couldn't help but to smile at herself, this is exactly why Warren and her were such good friends. She didn't have too many friends that she could quote John Hughes classics to and actually understand them. There was one other person she knew that could probably be right up there on Warren's level of dork, but something told her that ghosts probably had a hard time texting.

Max was just about to text Warren back when she heard a loud throat clearing sound at the front of the room.

"No phones out Max, back to your assignment please." the older teacher said at the front of the room

Without a sound, Max slid her phone back inside her pocket and looked back down at the paper set in front of her.

'I wonder...if I stare long enough at this, will the answers just magically appear?'

The time felt like it was dragging by, and Max knew deep down inside of her that there was no way that she was going to do this assignment right now. Her brain felt groggy and delayed, almost like what it feels like to try to run underwater. Still, she had to do something to look busy, so Max did the only thing she felt that would make any sense right now, she slid her journal toward her and opened it.

This was another thing that Max had decided would be beneficial to pick back up. There was only one entry in here since 2013 had passed, written on Christmas Eve. It was a memory Max knew if she read, would only make her feel worse, but try as she might to open it to any other page that wasn't that, of course with her luck, there it was, open right in front of her. Max didn't even have to read it to remember what it said.

December 24th

I miss you, Chloe. All I really want for Christmas is one more day with you. Fuck everything else, I would do anything to see you one more time. I would trade all the gifts and festivities in the world for you. I miss you, I love you.

'Is someone cutting onions in here? Time to try to leave the past in the past. Wowsers, opening this thing is like traveling back in time without powers. Let's hope that from now on, things will be different.'

Taking her pen in her hand, Max began to chronicle yesterday, trying to keep the same mood and feel as she had once before, but knowing her style was bound to change, even over the slightest amount of time.

April 7th, 2014

New life, new entry. It's really weird that after some horrible time shit starts happening is the moment when I feel like I need to be keeping up with this better. Hopefully, I will never have to be the 12th Doctor ever again. When that happens, knowing my track record, I hope you won't miss me too much Mr. Journal.

Today was a horrible day though. One of the worst I think I've ever had. It started off pretty shitty with me being late for classes, but I honestly couldn't give any less of a hoot. After nearly dying of boredom in all my classes, I had to prepare myself for going and doing the one thing I do every single 7th of the month, visit my dead best friend. Wowsers, sounds like some horrible teenage drama movie with adults acting like teens with really bad lingo. But what am I talking about? I just used the word 'lingo'. Barf.

The strangest thing happened when I was there though. I saw that blue butterfly I saw that day that Chloe got shot. But this time...this time it was different. I think somehow Chloe WAS the butterfly! I can hear 'They're Coming to Take Me Away' playing already.

But after getting knocked to the ground by Trevor outside of school – who I honestly can barely see why I had a crush on him ever – I went back to my dorm and saw Kate again for a while. Sweet, wonderful Kate. Then Victoria showed up and gave me so much film that I don't know the next time I'll ever need any.

After all that, I decided that it was time to start using the camera that Chloe gave me again. Well, I guess she never gave it to me in this timeline, but whatever, ish mine now. But then I saw that classically old photo of Chloe and I as pirates. That was like a trip down depressed lane. As soon as I got done freaking out though, time had stopped completely, again. It's like the flow of time is an old box TV, and I'm a really powerful magnet. Which means if I get near it, everything is going to pretty much be fucked up.

After looking around, I found that everything around the school was ripping in and out of reality or something. It was like a previous timeline was trying to crash down into this one somehow. But when I made my way into the belly of the beast, it was chaotic in there. Everything felt electric in that room, it was almost as if it didn't exist somehow.

But the moment I touched my old desk, the worst thing fucking ever happened. I got sent back into the timeline where Chloe was in a wheelchair, and I had to talk to...HIM again. It's like Harry Potter in this book, we do not speak his name.

But, I totally fucking got him. I used the whole Fight Club trick and made it look like he beat the shit out of me. Well, maybe not that bad. But I did do something like that, then I told the principal about The Dark Room before I left. I can say without a doubt, that is exactly what I needed in my life. I beat him HIM. Fuck HIM. He knows who he is.

After I got back though, I had blood all over me. I guess that put my body through more than just the regular time travel. Hell, it did way more than the photo's ever did, and that was some crazy enough shit right there. So I had to make my way back – in the freezing cold winds – to my room to try and sleep it off. And sleep it off I did.

'Wow, so that is also not like riding a bike. It seems I'm not as funny as I used to be. I'm glad that I'm the only one who ever reads this, because if anyone else did, they'd be able to tell the difference in writing, and probably not in a good way. Well, since I still have like, forever to go in boring Boring Snooze Town here, I may as well start the next entry.'

April 8th

It was actually nice waking up this morning. It felt good to actually wake up and have a purpose again. I decided that I was going to do photography if it kills me. I hope to dog it doesn't though.

After showering and getting my 'battle armor' on and ready for the day, I made my way into the halls and saw Kate's door wide open. And I'm no vampire, so I didn't really need to be invited inside. She was sitting in the light and playing her violin and OMG. This must have been the reason that I decided to start bringing that camera around with me again. That was an amazing shot. Even Kate thought it was 'wonderfully charming'. So I would say it's got to be at least a 9/10 on the I can take pictures scale.

I finally saw Victoria in the hall and thanked her for her gift. She of course didn't accept my thanks, saying it was 'charity'. But I know Victoria, she's just trying to hide the fact that shes human underneath all that snark.

Then, unfortunately, classes started. I almost have nothing to say about classes, like at all. But there is one saving grace honestly. In one of my classes, I get to sit next to both Dana AND Juliet. So I get to hear them argue and talk to each other all class long. It really is weird to see how similar their friendship was to mine and Chloe's. Just without all the dork-y references.

"Excuse me, can I help you sir?" Max heard from the front of the class that snapped her out of her journal and caused her eyes to look up toward the teacher.

"Uh, yeah! Show me where my seat is. Then please leave me alone for the rest of the day. Had to deal with a lot of shit."

Her eyes just darted over to the door once the guy had begun speaking, and it took Max's mind a few seconds to realize what it was she was looking at. It was almost as if she assumed she had seen it wrong. Like they were playing some kind of sick prank on her and Ashton Kutcher would spring out any second now with a camera. But once he finished his statement, Max knew her eyes and ears did not deceive her. Standing there in the doorway to her Pre-Cal course, was Nathan Prescott.

Instantly, Max's mind began to race back to the last time she had seen Nathan. A memory she was trying to avoid as hard as she could. The shot rang out through her ears again as her heart momentarily stopped beating.

Max stood up on her feet as quickly as she could and looked around the classroom, terrified. She had been regressing seeing his face for months now, and seeing him brought back the feelings of fear and despair she had felt as soon as she saw him.

Blue eyes scanned the sea of faces as they all stared back at her, which did nothing but add fuel to the fire that was the anxiety building inside of her. It felt as if they were all silently judging her as she stood there, being stabbed by the daggers that was their glances. There was only one thought that Max was allowing to race through her head as everything felt like it were moving in slow motion around her.

'I have to get out of here. Right now.'

Grabbing all of her things and shoving them haphazardly into her messenger bag, Max raced her body through the faces staring at her to the front of the room, and threw her body through the door before turning and running down the hall toward the front of the school.

She had no idea why, but something inside of her was telling her to go to the front of the school. As if there, she would have the answers to everything, like it were an oasis of peace to perfectly soothe her current frantic state of mind. Lockers were a blue and red blur as she sprinted away from the left wing of the school, seeing small posters and fliers whiz away from her line of sight. She felt as if she were running faster than she ever had in her whole life, almost so fast that she nearly couldn't stop herself as she entered the large square area that was the front of the school. Her eyes momentarily scanned everything around her trying to figure out exactly why she thought coming here would have been a smart idea. Her peripheral vision momentarily gazed over toward the girls bathroom and sent her nerves into a frenzy. Her mind started to spin as her vision began to blur. Suddenly, her knees gave way and Max came collapsing to the ground.

Her arms caught her fall as she stayed there, panting and trying to get a hold on her thoughts. It was as if her mind was a machine gun, shooting her thoughts out at her as quickly as it possibly could. Sounds of overlapping thoughts and feelings became deafening to her as she lowered onto her elbows and placed her head to the floor, clenching her eyes tightly, trying desperately to find some kind of peace. Just when Max was starting to believe that her mind was going to drive her to insanity, and that this would be the last sane thing that ever happened to her, she felt a hand touch her shoulder gently as a stern voice spoke her name.

Seconds passed as Max turned and stared at the hand, unblinking and too afraid to find out just who it was that the hand belonged to. Air around her was growing more and more tense as the second hand ticked away on the watch on his wrist.

"Max? Are you okay?" The man spoke again, causing Max's brain to latch upon the voice, as she suddenly realized who it was that was speaking.

"David...I can't breathe..." She cried between gasps, gazing back down at the floor.

He simply rubbed her shoulder reassuringly "it's okay Max, you're having a panic attack. The important thing is to concentrate on breathing. Here, let me take you to a quiet place."

Max hesitated for a moment before nodding her head. She wasn't comfortable with David taking her anywhere, as everything was sending Max into a fear spiral, but she knew somewhere inside of her that he would know what to do in situations like this. David lifted her up rather effortlessly, putting his arms behind her shoulders and her knees before taking her out of the middle of the hall, and into Principal Wells room.

It took Max half an hour of curling up into a small ball in the principal's chair for her to calm down. David sat there the entire time and watched her quietly, only leaving her side at one point to retrieve a soda from the machine outside for her, before returning and watching her diligently once again.

"Th-thank you David." Max finally said, breaking the silence between the two of them.

"It's no problem Max. I just know exactly what it's like to have panic attacks, and I knew Wells was out doing a conference with the superintendent right now, so I figured that here would be better and more soothing to calm down than the nurses office. Are you alright?"

Shifting in the large chair, Max sat herself upright and responded with a simple "yeah."

"Damn, I have to say, I was hoping that you wouldn't be having episodes like this, Max. But after what you saw, I'm honestly not surprised. Did anything trigger this?"

Her eyes lowered as she stared at the floor below her.

'It's just like back in the Dark Room. If I tell him why I panicked, he may freak out, but David really does deserve to know...what do I say?'

"I saw..." Max began as she blinked tears out of her eyes. "I saw Nathan Prescott enter my class earlier. I thought he would never be coming back here. I heard he was in an institution far away. When I saw him I just...I had flashbacks of that day in the bathroom. I just couldn't stop thinking."

A silence fell upon the room once more as David sat in his chair and let the words sink into him. "They brought him back here...and they didn't even tell me? They let that bastard that killed my step-daughter back in this place and they didn't even think of telling me?" His words were beginning to fill with anger, mimicking his reactions to hearing what had happened to Chloe last year in a different timeline. The only difference now, was Max knew that she had no way of rewinding time to undo this. This action was one she would have to live with.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to-"

"No." David interrupted with a more calm voice. "It's okay. It's not your fault. I knew that he had ties and money, I guess I just misjudged how much. You know, they didn't televise his trial, but I kept up with it for every second that it went by." David was now pacing back and forth, letting his eyes try to concentrate on certain objects in the room, and keep his breathing normal to avoid having an episode himself. "Best goddamn lawyer that money could afford. He was out on a plea bargain of insanity before the trial ever began. Now that son of a bitch is back here. It's been less than half of his sentence. I guess money can speed up any process."

Max watched as David paced. Listening to every word and feeling a tinge of guilt with every word he spoke. 'Would it have been better to just lie to him?'

Turning his attention away from himself, David looked back at Max and rubbed his brow intensely. "Look, I'm sorry. I'll be alright. We both need to just get out of here, as soon as we can. I'm going to go back to the house, is there anywhere you can go Max? Anywhere where you would feel calm and safe? Anywhere there are happy memories?"

It was weird, but Max didn't even have to think very hard about that. The moment the words 'calm and safe' left his mouth, Max already had an idea of a place to go. A place that looks perfectly serene, with calming sounds of nature, and a place that held more than a few happy memories. It was the one place that stood out among this town, the staple of Arcadia Bay.

"Yeah..Do you think you could take me to the lighthouse?"

"For the best friend of Chloe, absolutely."

Author Notes:

Hey yo, so Merry Christmas! I give you as a Christmas gift, another chapter. I know, I know, I spoil you. So to repay me, how about them reviews?! You owe me, after all ;)

So anyway, I had a lot of fun getting into this side of Max. I don't think that Max having hardcore PTSD is something I follow, so here is some mild for you, because as a character, you wouldn't just accept the fact that your bestfriend/love died and you could have done something, honestly. One of the many, many reasons I started this fic, tie up all the many loose ends of the game, and to make the ending of the game make other seasons possible. Because lets be real, if season 2 asks me to rewind ever and keeps the whole "time travel messes everything up". No thanks. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! Please follow and review! Don't forget to tune in next time! Sane Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel!

Until next time, stay golden.