Author's Note: This story takes place in the Life is Strange: Before the Storm Universe. Frank Bowers (28) has ended things with Rachel Amber long before she went missing. I do not own Life is Strange: Before the Storm, any characters or fictional places. I only own Jada Bleu (18) and this story.
Frank reclines in his Rv, the radio softly playing. By his side, Pompidou wags his tail in anticipation. Frank, despite his tough exterior, shares a warm bond with his furry friend. With care, he slices meat; a treat for them both. Inside, dim lighting and nostalgia fill the air. As he feeds Pmpidou, their unspoken connection is clear- a moment of solace from the world's troubles. From his window Frank can see the Blackwell Academy parking lot. He sees the infamous rich, pretty boy, Nathan Prescott getting into it with a girl that Frank has never seen around before. It gets a little nasty between the two of them and when push comes to shove, Nathan punches her hard in the face. Blood comes spewing out of her mouth. Frank opens the door of his RV. He normally doesn't get involved with things like this but seeing that rich kid brat hit a woman just rubs Frank the wrong way.
Frank's feet hit the pavement as he jumps a barrier and walks toward Nathan Prescott. Blood rushes his veins and his eyes are ablaze with rage. His fists clench at his sides, itching to punch the smug piece of rich crap. He reaches Nathan and grabs him by the collar. The girl has dark brown hair and a black beanie. The more Frank looks at her for a dew more seconds, the more familiar she looks.
She's not a Blackwell student, she's a public school student. She's about 18 or 19 years old and he's seen her around before. Frank notices her because he's seen her at a couple of band shows at the Old Mill that Damon ran. She's never been one to cause trouble and usually keeps to her damn self. And that's what Frank likes about her. She keeps to herself, so why the hell was she here? Was she running an errand for Damon? Did Nathan owe her money? What was this altercation with Nathan Prescott about? And even more so, why the fuck was Nathan putting his hands on a woman in the first place?
Frank looks at Nathan. He's still absoluetly furious. Nathan is glaring at him, he wants Frank to let go but Frank is not going to let go until he figures out why Nathan is putting his hands on girls. Frank tightens his grip on Nathan Prescott and shakes him. His fury rises inside. "What the hell? Why did you hit her?" he shouts.
Nathan shakes his head, trying to get free of his hold. "Let me go, man!! It wasn't like that!"
Frank's grip tightens a little more as he leans in close to Nathan. He looks at the girl's bloody lip, and his anger grows even more. "It's alright man. Let him go," she says to Frank. She stands up and wipes the blood from her lip. "Rich boy hits like a bitch." Nathan lunges for her again when she says that to him but Frank holds him back. He yanks Nathan back so hard and glares at him. A look on Frank's face that says Try it again and watch what the fuck happens.
"You little son of a-" Nathan tries to get loose of Frank's tight grip but Frank's not letting go. He's had just about enough of the spoiled brat's bullshit and decides to give him a piece of his mind. He looks straight at Nathan and snarls.
"You ever lay a hand on a girl like that again, you're gonna be picking your teeth off the ground, you understand me? You got that?!" Nathan glares at Frank, but says nothing. His mouth straight in defiance. Frank finally lets go of Nathan with a shove and Nathan starts to walk back to class. Frank looks at the girl who seems to hold her own. He definitely recognizes her from Arcadia Bay Public High School. She's a public school kid and even though Frank himself is an alumni or exalumni of Blackwell Academy, he knows first hand that public school kids don't fuck around.
Public school kids get into fights all the time. They can handle punches and whatnot, it's their day-to-day lives. Public school kids are pretty nasty and when the rich kids from Blackwell try to push them around, they have no problem sticking their ground. Frank chuckles for a moment. He knows Nathan Prescott wouldn't be able to last a day in a public school. He looks at the girl with a smirk and then he offers a ride to wherever she's got to go in his RV. She's a cool chick. He's seen her before at the mill and figures she's decent enough that he can talk to her without having an issue.
"Need a ride?" Frank asks the girl, offering his hand towardsher. "I'll be nice, I promise." His words are lighthearted, but his tone is just the right amount of intimidating to let her know he's not someone to mess with. With a smirk, he adds, "Better get in before someone else sees you with me and assumes the wrong thing."
The girl doesn't give Frank any shit. She gets in the Rv and then gives him a quiet, "Thanks." She sits in the passenger seat of his RV next to the driver seat as Frank gets in and pulls away from Blackwell. He looks over at her. She's wearing skinny black jeans and she's not built like any other high school student in Arcadia Bay that he's really known. He usually only sells to the kids at Blackwell so he's only had to deal with those skinny anorexic looking girls. But this girl is tall. She's a couple inches shorter than Frank and she's built like a woman. Small breasts, a small hourglass waist, slender hips. He even caught a slight indentation that she might have an unwell defined set of four pack abs.
She doesn't have muscular arms. They're kind of flabby in a way but she's built big. Big boned. She has a round little plain face, high cheekbones, dark lashes. She doesn't really look like she wears makeup and if she does, Frank figures it's probably the dark emo or goth makeup. She dresses more like a tomboy and Frank kind of likes that. Frank turns his focus towards the road ahead of him, but he still can't keep his eyes off of the attractive girl sitting beside him. Her athletic build and tomboy attire are far different from the girls he's used to seeing at Blackwell, and he can't help but find her attractive. As they continue to drive, he attempts to make small talk. "I haven't seen you around Blackwell before, you go to the public high school?"
"Yeah, that's right. My parents don't make enough money to send me to Blackwell. Not like I want to go to that school either. They don't hace anything I'm interested in." She tucks a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. "If you could do me a solid by dropping me off at the supermarket down by the docks, that'd be great."
Frank nods and smiles, "No problem. What's your name?" he asks the girl. Frank reaches his hand out towards her and gestures for a shake. "I'm Frank Bowers, you can call me Frank." his tone is light and easy going as he introduces himself and waits for the girl to give her name. She takes his hand and shakes it as she turns her attention back towards the road through the windshield.
"Jada. Jada Bleu. Yeah, yeah I kknow who you are. I've seen you at the Old Mill before. You run in Damon's crew right?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Frank chuckles to himself as the girl introduces herself. "So, what brings you out this way? You owe Damon money or something?" Frank asks with an uneasy laugh, still curious about what brought the girl to Blackwell in the first place. In his experience, public school kids like Jada don't step foot on Blackwell campus unless they have a reason to.
"No, I'm all paid up with Damon. I never skimp out on money with him. Poor little Nathan Prescott was running his mouth talking shit about my school. Saying a bunch of stuff because we ended up raising a whole bunch of money during a field trip for our new mechanic program. He's running his mouth talking about how his Dad could have donated to our school but Blackwell's mush more prestige. Prestige," she scoffs saying the word with disgust, "Arcadia High is focusing on giving kids real jobs. You know, ones we can actually move on from town with. Trades that will go on with us for generations. Blackwell specializes in coddling little bitches like Nathan Prescott, swaddling them into the world with ease and grace. Hope the world comes and kicks him right in the ass like I did."
Frank laughs loudly and pats the girl's shoulder. "I agree, you sure knocked him right on his ass. And like I said, I have no love for that kid or his rich family either. What you said is true, Blackwell is meant to mold and fit their students into a life of ease and privilege. Whereas a place like the public high school, while it doesn't give you as much funding, it'll teach you real skills that you can take with you wherever you go." Frank smiles at Jada, liking her for her attitude. "What did they raise money for at the school? Mechanic classes?"
"Auto Mechanic chop shop project. Our local junkyard, American Rust, has a bunch of cars that are junk. So, we raised money to see of American Rust would give us one of the cars for us to rebuild from the ground up. It's a $50,000 project. We went over to Portland during one of our schools swim meets, we raised $47,000...That was a lot of butterfly swim laps for me. My shoulders are still killin' me."
Frank chuckles as Jada explains the project to him. "Yeah, sounds like a lot of work. I can see why you'd be all exhausted. And 47 grand.. that is quite a lot of money for a high school project. You have some amazing students." The RV turns a bend in the road, and Frank shifts gears, letting out a deep satisfied sigh. "So, where are you going to college? I've they have some good mechanic programs at Oregon State University." She shakes her head at him and two strands of dark brown hair fall from underneath her black beanie to frame around her little round face.
"Nah, going straight from graduation into work. I'm currently working an internship over at the restoration and remodeling place out on route 5. So, straight from graduation over there to work my ass off till i die."
Frank frowns in disbelief, "That sounds dreadful. You have your whole like ahead of you, why not take the time to study something you're interested in while you have the chance?! I mean, at least at college, you'll have the opportunity to meet new people and find yourself. The same can't be said if you rush into the workforce."
She chuckles and looks at Frank, "Am I seriously getting lectured by one of Damon Merrick's drug runners right now?'"
"Hey, just because I'm on the wrong side of the law doesn't mean I don't have any wisdom to share." Frank says, amused by the girl's comment. "I'm just saying, you should live a little and take your time before you decide what you're going to do with the rest of your life. Besides, collge is a great place to meet people. There'll be so many beautiful and interesting people there. What if the love of your life is waiting for you at that school?"
She chuckles and snorts for a minute, "Love can kiss my ass. I ain't going to college and it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to work on old school american muscle cars that get shipped in from all over the world. I get to work on my dream. Everybody else who wants to go to college can got to college. I'm not going to sit in a classroom and waste my time on remedial class where I have to write english papers that don't go towards my degree."
Frank looks shocked by Jada's comment, surprised that she's so opposed to the idea of college. "Look at me...I never went to college, and I'm doing just fine running my drug trade and selling to half the town's population. Sure, it's fun, it's fast money. But let me tell you, it gets old after a while." He pauses and gives Jada another look before he continues, "But if you think working on cars and working on your 'dream cars' is going to get you anywhere besides working at your local mechanic for the rest of your life, you're delusional."
"I don't want to get famous man, I just want to do what I love. I don't give a rat's ass about nobody or nothing else. And trust me, If I wanted to go to college, my parents could afford it. Hell, if I wanted to go to Blackwell, my parents could afford it but I don't. Ain't nothing there for me. Besides, I don't need to be swaddled into society like Nathan Prescott. And hey, you may be on the wrong side of the law but if you ask me, when was the last time the law did anything good for anyone? They always say Innocent until proven Guilty, but from what I've seen the way they treat people it's always guilty until proven innocent."
Frank snorts and nods, a small grin forming on his face. "You remind me a bit of myself when I was younger...all the energy, fighting against the system." He pauses and turns to look at Jada, his expression softens as he speaks. "Hey, I know exactly what you mean. I had a tough tome growing up, too. But you shouldn't close yourself off to new experiences, you know. That's how you live, and that's how you grow. Don't let the world turn you into something you're not." She chuckles at him agains as he turns his RV down the road towards the supermarket where she asked him to drop her off.
"Next time there's a show at the Old Mill, I'll let Damon know that I really appareciate his philosophical runners. How it's so interesting that they are so wise with such life experience. And you and I both know he's going to say, 'Just buy the shit, pay the money and shut the fuck up.'"
Frank chuckles to himself as they drive along. He looks over at Jada as she speaks and can't help but be amused by her boldness, and her frank demeanor. She seems to be a tough, no-nonsense type of girl, one who doesn't hide her thoughts or feelings. He likes that about her, and he also likes the fact that she isn't intimidated by him or his position as one of Damon Merrick's drug runners. He smiles and keeps driving, thinking that there might be more to the girl sitting in the passenger seat than the tough exterior she portrays. Frank parks his RV infront of the supermarket. She gives him a little finger salute and says to him, "Thanks for the ride, man. See you around." as she gets out of his Rv and goes into the supermarket. Frank looks at her for a long time after she;s gone. He watches as she grabs a grocery cart and starts shopping. As Frank watches the girl enter the supermarket, he can't help but think about her. He's never met a girl quite like her, one who isn't easily intimidated and stands up for herself. Frank feels a sense of sttraction towards Jada , on that he hasn't felt in a long time. He smiles to himself as he watches her enter the supermarket and begins shopping. He turns the key in the engine and starts up the RV. He slowly pulls out of the parking lot, heading back towards the Old Mill.
Out of his rear view, he can see Jada exiting the supermarket. He sees her load paper bags into the back of an old Oldsmobile Cutlass. He squints his eyes and can see in the driver's seat is an old woman, probably in her 70s. He see Jada get into the passenger seat and the woman grabs her face. He can see the woman's slight disdain. The shake of her head as they drove off in the opposite direction that Frank is going in his RV. He watched Jada load the bags into the Cutlass and get into the passenger seat of the car. He saw the older woman put her hand on Jada's shoulder and smile at her, but her expression doesn't seem welcoming or joyful. Frank could almost feel the tension in the car just by watching them through his rear-view mirror. He can't help but wonder about Jada and her family situation, and what brought them to Arcadia Bay. As he wonders, he pulls down the road towards the Old Mill and shuts off the engine. The RV fills with silence, and Frank's thoughts grown deeper.