Life is Strange: My Unusual Journey

Chapter 15 of my Life is Strange story, enjoy.

Reviews

Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah, it was a very different atmosphere.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange or its characters.

Chaos Theory – Mending the Bridge

I shook my head as I followed Chloe across the campus, despite my agreement to do this, I felt like we were pushing our luck perhaps a bit too far.

So far we hadn't had any trouble running into security, we had made some important findings, but now that the work was done, our leisure time seemed all the more dangerous.

Still I did not complain; Chloe had me on one point, everything that had happened so far had been so fucked up that the thought of simply unwinding and relaxed, in a pool of water, was very appealing.

We reached the pool building and Chloe unlocked the door, we entered and I looked around, using my phone's light.

"We're in the Otter's lair." I noted.

"Big fucking deal." Chloe snarked. "I want that heated water."

I sighed and gently reminded her. "We still have to play it cool, okay. I still go to school here."

Chloe scoffed and remarked. "You could own this hellhole once you figure out your rewind power."

I couldn't help but smile at how psyched out Chloe was for this little 'girls night out'. Deciding to follow along I nodded and stepped slightly closer as she then began to gesture to the locker rooms.

"Boy's or girls?" She offered.

I shook my head; smiling. "Girls of course!"

"Girls? Oh-la-la..." Chloe teased.

Rolling my eyes I followed her as she unlocked the door and we stepped through to the girls locker room.

As we entered Chloe began to hurry on ahead.

She spoke quickly as she did. "Let me check to see if the pool's heated."

Then she disappeared into the darkness. I looked around with the meagre light from my phone. There were a few interesting, or curious rather, things around the locker room. Nothing really noteworthy except as distractions.

Seeing a single sock lying on a bench I couldn't help but wonder, having fallen victim to this myself. 'Where does that other sock go?'

Taking care not to get too close to some musty looking old shirts in one of the open lockers I continued to scout around.

Once again my nosiness came to the forefront and I found myself opened Brooke's unsecured locker. It was then I saw it, the clue which told why, during that brief time I saw her in the science class, Brooke had been so cold towards me.

'Looks like Brooke wanted to go to the drive-in with Warren...' I thought as I read the leaflet in her locker. 'But he asked me instead and I said yes...'

It was then I realized two things, one, Brooke's coldness was due to jealousy, and two, I was still getting that fluttering feeling. Only now it felt more pleasant than unusual, now that I knew what I felt. I just had to find the right time to tell Warren.

I couldn't help myself and so I went nosing around in Victoria's locker. What did I find, selfies. After all the crap she gave me, she was exactly the same.

'Honestly, go fuck your-No.' I stopped myself, I had to admit it. 'Mr. Jefferson said don't confuse the art with the artist and these are cool shots.'

Closing the locker I took one more look around; aside from some unamusing graffiti the only other thing I saw was something poking out of Kate's locker. Checking it I saw it was a bus ticket, that had me worried.

'Was Kate, going to run away, like...Rachel Amber?' I wondered; at least I hoped that was all Rachel had done.

Shaking my head I returned to the task at hand and entered the shower room. Nothing interesting here except some graffiti which frankly, I was tired of seeing by now.

So I made my way out into the pool area. I smiled when I spotted Chloe, she was sitting at the edge of the pool, playfully running her hand through the water several times. I wrinkled my nose, I could smell the chlorine from here. Nevertheless I approached; Chloe nodded, without turning her head, to acknowledge my presence.

I leaned down and suddenly she looked up, grinning.

"Max, try to find the light for the pool." She said excitedly. "I wanna see the sharks."

I replied with a quick retort. "Otters don't like sharks, they bite."

"So do I, hit that light!" Chloe replied.

Laughing at her exuberance I nodded.

I turned and entered the door to the lifeguard office, searching for the light controls. It wasn't exactly hard to spot, a large box attached to wall, all the various switches labeled, I looked it over quickly and began flicking the necessary switches to turn on the lights in the pool.

With my task done I turned and exited the office. One thing I had been wondering, how were we going to swim without swimsuits.

I got my answer when I exited the office and saw Chloe. Chloe had removed her outer clothing, now clad in just her black and orange underwear, clearly having no issue with the fact she'd have to pull her clothes back on afterwards.

I shook my head, as she dived in gracefully and surfaced a few feet away. I casually approached the edge as Chloe swam back over towards the side.

"Oh man, it's like a hot-tub!" She cried out, smiling widely.

I smirked and, seeing it, Chloe responded by suddenly trying to splash me. I leapt back quickly.

"Don't you dare!" I cried out.

Chloe laughed and then challenged. "Come in and stop me, hippie."

I rolled my eyes, fine, if Chloe could deal with pulled her clothes onto chlorine soaked underwear, so could I. "Okay, you asked for it."

I quickly pulled my bag off, along with my outer clothing, setting everything down neatly. Now clad in just my pink and blue underwear I turned to the pool, ran to the edge and dive-bombed in.

"Cowabunga!"

I aimed carefully to make sure the splash as I landed in the water would hit Chloe, my little revenge.

I surfaced, almost immediately savouring the feeling of the water, adapted to the chlorine smell and feeling my tense muscles relax. Chloe was drenched and smirking.

"Why look, an otter in my water." She teased playfully before humming the theme from Jaws.

I immediately splashed her. "Knock it off, you know I still get freaked out by that...I can't stand any of those old shark movies."

Chloe immediately retaliated to me splashing her and I did the same. Before long it was like we were kids again, laughing and having fun with a splash war. It lasted until Chloe let out a melancholic sigh and moved to float on her back. I bit my lip and simply treaded water, observing her, before doing the same.

"I wish Rachel was here." She said at last. "She would totally love being in here at night."

She sighed and then added. "Wish you guys had met each other."

"We will." I tried to reassure her. "With all this stuff going on, I'm starting to think everything's related. I want to find out for Kate's sake, she almost died today."

With that I straightened up in the water, as did Chloe. We began to swim to the edge of the pool.

"You're power is changing everything Max. Especially you, I can already tell." Chloe said softly, before snarking. "You're not so chickenshit anymore."

I laughed at that as we rested our arms on the edge of the pool.

There was a pause before Chloe continued.

"You're becoming like, this force of nature."

I rolled my eyes and muttered. "More like luck of nature. C'mon, my power failed trying to rescue Kate."

I sighed and then said something that had been bothering me for a while. "Maybe I'm just stumbling back and forth in time...for what reason?"

"You didn't stumble when you saved me, Max."

"Not that time." I admitted, before pointing out. "But that's because you were there to kickstart my power."

"So it's time to start moving forward in time." Chloe remarked with a shrug. "And we're obviously connected since, without me you would never have discovered your power right?"

I shrugged, I didn't know and to be honest, that was what scared me the most, the not knowing.

"I don't know, I mean..."

Chloe sighed. "There you go again, being so humble, stop it. You're like, the smartest, most talented person I've ever known."

I quirked an eyebrow at that. "More than Rachel Amber?"

"Dude, I'm not her groupie, okay." Chloe replied quickly. "And I'm sure you have Blackwell bros all over you, like Warren right?"

I couldn't help but not a strange catch in her voice when she said Warren's name, but it didn't make sense to me.

I smiled lightly however at the mention of Warren.

"Not so sure about Blackwell, bros, but Warren...Warren is, nice." I replied with that soft smile still on my face.

Chloe actually laughed at my statement. "Ouch, nice means friend-zoned."

I started and shook my head. "What, no, seriously...I, he's more than nice, he's sweet, kind...Dependable, caring, and I just, I just..."

"Urhg, girl, don't go getting all mushy on me." Chloe replied.

I could feel myself blushing; only now realizing what I had actually been saying. "What, I just..."

Chloe laughed. "You got it bad, Max, you are seriously into that guy."

"So what if I am, I don't…" I replied quickly, blushing harder.

Chloe shook her head. "Oh my God, this is like that time six years ago and you developed a crush on that hot actor guy. Tell me something, does Warren know you feel this way, do you know how he feels?"

"Let me answer them in order." I replied, bracing myself for her response. "No and yes, he feels the same."

"But doesn't know you do?" She queried. I shook my head and she sighed. "Listen Max, all joking aside...tell him."

I turned my head towards her, surprised at her abruptness. When no other words were forthcoming I shook my head.

"What, that's it, just...tell him?"

Chloe nodded. "Yeah, I mean, c'mon, you both like each other; he clearly doesn't want to make a move out of fear he'll come on too strong and scare you. I know you won't make a move unless pushed, so there's your push, do it."

I groaned, unable to believe I was actually hearing this from Chloe of all people, despite her being right.

Finally I just sighed and shrugged.

"Well, Warren and I are supposed to be going to the drive-in this weekend, I can tell him then."

Chloe shook her head however. "Ah, no, no, no, no, no. Don't delay, just because you can rewind time doesn't mean you should waste it. Tell him...tomorrow alright, trust me, the sooner it's out there, the better and I bet it'll make your movie date ten times better."

"I wouldn't even know what to say." I replied forlornly.

Chloe just smiled. "Max, I know I'm the last person you expected to hear this from, but...just speak from your heart."

I smiled a little, understanding what she meant.

"I'm starting to get cold." I muttered, realizing the drop in temperature.

Chloe smirked and splashed me again. "That's because we're wasting time talking instead of splashing."

Laughing I retaliated before Chloe sighed.

"Let's call a truce, and call it a night."

I nodded in agreement. "Sure, I'm gonna freeze my ass off when I get out of here."

Together we pulled ourselves out of the pool and then, remembering something I saw back in the girl's locker room, I signalled Chloe to wait and moved as quickly as I could.

I came back with some towels and we quickly dried ourselves as much as possible, it wouldn't help with the Chlorine smell and we were still damp, but it was better than being soaking wet.

We quickly got dressed and, once all prepared, I slung my bag back over my shoulder and wrinkled my nose again at the Chlorine smell.

I shook my head as I turned to Chloe.

"I feel like we just went swimming in Chlorine Bay."

She smirked and shrugged. "You look cute with your hair soaked with chemicals."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, you would know."

We both laughed lightly but the laughter quickly stopped as we heard the sound of a door opening. Spinning around we saw the door at the far end of the building had opened and a security guard, holding a flashlight had entered.

'Shit, the lights, the noise...Fuck we were heard.' I realized to my dismay.

Chloe immediately whispered to me, urgently. "C'mon."

I nodded and we both rushed through the shower room and back into the girls locker room, from there we exited into the entrance hall and approached the doors.

I began to feel hope, but then it disappeared when the outer doors opened and another security guard entered with a flashlight. I recognized the silhouette of this one.

I almost groaned. 'David Madsen now, urgh, we're surrounded.'

But Chloe wasn't about to give up, she pulled me away, back into the girls locker room.

The door closed, just as we heard David burst into the entrance hall. I watched through the dark as Chloe slid in between a gap that was between a row of lockers, by the door, and the wall. Not the most elegant of hiding places, but it would allow her to hide easily.

Sadly there wasn't room for me there too.

Still, I knew I had to hide so I took off and slipped into the shower room, just as David entered the locker room.

He was right on my heels; I had to hurry. Left with no other choice, I hurried to the last shower stall and ducked inside, relying on the darkness to keep me hidden from view as I crouched down, waiting.

I could hear David's footsteps as he entered the shower room, I saw the beam of his flashlight hit the wall next to my hiding spot. I felt my heart speed up, began to wonder fearfully what would happen if I was caught.

"Who's there?" I heard David's voice calling out.

I froze, realizing I was breathing heavily, he must have heard it. Acting in desperation, I clamped my hand over my mouth to stifle it.

I heard David growl. "Who is out there, I'm warning you, I have a flashlight and a stick."

Under other circumstances, I would have laughed, but from him that did actually sound threatening. My panic increased however as I saw the flashlight spot on the wall change shape in a way that could only mean one thing, David was coming closer, he would find me.

It was then a loud noise could be heard and David turned and ran towards it. I realized it could only mean one thing, Chloe had made a distraction. I waited in an agony of suspense, but David never returned. I had to risk it.

So I slipped out of my hiding place and made my way back into the locker room, nobody was around, except Chloe. I moved closer and whispered.

"Chloe, let's go."

She exited her hiding place and made our escape from the building. We began to run, I was hoping to make it back to the dorms but then I saw more security guards ahead. Chloe directed me to the right, over a narrow wall which put us in the parking lot.

"Whoa there girl, you can't go back to your dorm now." She said suddenly. "You're a Blackwell fugitive, c'mon, crash at my place tonight."

I couldn't see any other choice, so, despite my misgivings, I agreed and hurried to Chloe's truck. Once inside Chloe gunned the engine and drove off, laughing at the top of her voice. I shook my head but smiled. Not the most subtle of escapes, but we made it.

"Well, that was...fun." I said at last.

Chloe grinned. "Tell me about it; well, tomorrow, we'll dig up more dirt on our other suspects, then we can maybe, see if we have enough to try figure things out, what do you say?"

I nodded. "Sure, although I will still need to get back to Blackwell at...some point tomorrow."

Chloe nodded and we continued our ride home. With Chloe driving carefully, I took a moment to pass time by pulling out my journal and began writing in it some more, covering the night's events.

By the time I finished and put my journal back in my bag, we reached Chloe's house. We got out the car and entered.

"Don't worry, we know Step-shit is still at Blackwell and mom won't be back for another couple of hours or so." Chloe explained. "So, let's get settled in, I assume you wanna shower."

I nodded and Chloe just smiled before heading to her room. I sighed and entered the bathroom. I quickly removed my Chlorine soaked clothing and began to shower. I was so lost in the shower I didn't hear Chloe enter the bathroom.

But she must have, for when I came out, I found a pair of simple beige shorts and a pink short-sleeved top with a skull design on it, pajamas. I quickly pulled them on. I noted to myself that I was at least somewhat prepared for something like this, since I had stashed fresh underwear in my bag.

I entered Chloe's room to find her waiting, my clothes had been set on the chair by her desk, my bag was positioned next to Chloe's closet, I spotted William's camera on the floor by the left hand side of the bed as I looked at it.

"Cool, you all freshened up now?" She queried with a grin.

I nodded. "Yeah, finally."

Also nodding Chloe stood. "Right well, make yourself comfy, my turn to go shower."

With that she left the bathroom and I went and sat down on the bed, sitting on the same side as William's camera.

I contemplated the night's events, noting that, in amongst the espionage and worrying findings we had made, it was actually quite enjoyable, also, Chloe's words gave me confidence.

First chance I had tomorrow, I would tell Warren how I felt. I was still smiling as I thought of this when Chloe returned; wearing her pajamas, a pair of white shorts and a black short sleeved top with a picture of a chick, along with the word 'rock' above it.

She smiled and, recognizing said smile I quickly moved off the bed. Just in time as Chloe practically launched herself onto the bed. Laughing Chloe moved over so she was occupying one side of the bed.

"Honestly Chloe." I muttered as I lay down on the other side.

Chloe was still laughed as finally, these restless nights caught up with me and I slipped into a deep sleep.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.