Chapter 01: Reset

I awoke to the sound of my alarm going off. My hand slapped the bedside alarm with practiced ease. "It's too early," I groaned as I grabbed my phone and sat up. After unlocking it, I found a couple of texts from Chloe waiting for me.

[Captain Chloe]
[wake up! we got shit to do today! it's your first day at blackhell and i'm gonna show u the ropes]
[text me when you get up]

A small smile touched my lips. Her enthusiasm was practically infectious. But I already knew Blackwell inside and out, not that I could tell her that. Honestly, going back there just filled me with dread. In this timeline, Mark Jefferson was still out there and just as dangerous as ever.

Just when does that bastard get to Arcadia Bay?

[Me]
[How can you possibly be excited about the first day of school? I just want to go back to bed.]

I set the phone aside and got dressed. My room here was actually just about the same size as my dorm was back in Blackwell. The one year mark was getting close. A year since I came back to keep everyone safe and alive. And a year since I utterly failed. Sorrow and regret crashing over me, I sat back over on my bed and buried my face in my hands.

I fucked it up. I always did. An opportunity to permanently return to the past meant I could save William and keep Chloe safe. It seemed like a no-brainer. But then the spirits offered me assistance. They could help me in some small way, and I was so stupid that I asked if they could keep me in Arcadia Bay. They said they could.

When I got back to that fateful day, I kept William from dying. It was easy. I'd done it before. But… I never got to go home. There was a fire, and my parents died. All my photos burned and none of the pictures at the Price household could get me in a position to change any of that.

I got to stay in Arcadia Bay.

Wiping my face with my hands, I did my best to squash my emotions down. I grabbed my phone and messenger bag and made a beeline for the bathroom to wash my face. After calming myself down a bit, I went back to my phone.

[Captain Chloe]
[come on! were in the same grade now! we have so many classes together. this is the year of max and chloe!]

Yeah. Skipping a grade was kind of easy when you're a senior trapped in a freshman's body. Though, even I didn't get that right. They said I could skip to the 11th grade. How humiliating that I couldn't even get to my regular grade. But, I guess that's not what I wanted anyway. Just one grade. To be together with Chloe. That's what this sacrifice was for, wasn't it?

If only I knew the cost.

I shook my head, banishing the clawing thoughts. As fucked up as it was, this was still somehow more bearable than a world without Chloe. If only just…

After getting my hair fixed, I took my morning selfie. Once again, I couldn't bear a smile. But a good photo wasn't really the point. Taking out a sharpie, I wrote today's date on the margin before stowing it in my bag. I hadn't had to use any of them yet, but this ritual meant that I would always have a backup. To prevent them from all being lost, I also tried to take selfies with friends and leave them in their care. I couldn't afford to have all my jumping back points to go up in smoke a third time.

My routine complete, I headed back through to get some grub and head out.

"Good morning, Max."

I looked up as I got to the main area of our little apartment with the tiny kitchen on one side and the living room on the other. There, sitting on the couch, was David Madsen. My foster-dad. I fucked up his life, too. With William still alive, I deprived him of his happiness by keeping Joyce out of his reach. It was somehow fitting for us to be miserable together.

"Hey, David," I greeted, heading over to the kitchen. Calling him "pop" or "dad" never felt right. It probably never would. So I settled on "David," and he never seemed to mind. He actually liked it better than Mr. Madsen, which I called him for a solid month and a half.

He was the only one who knew. Who I really was. What I could do.

What I did.

I made myself a bowl of cereal and stood in the kitchen eating as I tried to keep up my conversation with Chloe.

[Me]
[Still, starting the school year means that we only get to hang out on the weekends. And being in class together is hardly the same thing.]

[Captain Chloe]
[oh my god! you are such a mopey max this morning! i'm gonna have to find a way to fix that shit]

Great. How was I supposed to reply to that? I finished my breakfast without figuring out the answer. As I washed the bowl and spoon, I heard David.

"Hey Max, they still haven't found a replacement for Teddy down at the garage. So I'm probably going to be working over again today."

"Do you need me to make dinner?" I asked, putting the dishes on in the drying rack.

"Actually, I was thinking you could just pack a change and spend the night at Chloe's? It's a lot easier now that you're going to the same school," David said, looking over at me. "They're asking me to do a double."

"You're sure? You're gonna be totally beat by the time you get back." I stepped around the counter, wiping my wet hands on my jeans.

He nodded. "I'll just hit a drive-thru for dinner."

"That's not healthy," I argued.

"Better than an MRE, let me tell you," he shot back.

I rolled my eyes. "The MREs again." He pointed a finger at me, and I hung my head a bit. "Sorry." David wasn't hard to get along with—as long as you always showed him respect. He took even the slightest of slights personally and flew off the handle. It was easier just to go along with it. Which is exactly why Chloe never got along with him. "I'll go pack a change."

As I threw a spare change of clothes into my backpack, I shot Chloe another text.

[Me]
[David's going to be working late again today. Do you think your parents would be okay with me staying over for the night?]

The reply was nearly instantaneous.

[Captain Chloe]
[see! this is the killer shit i'm talking about. since we're going to the same school you can practically live here now. shits gonna be epic this year!]

[Me]
[Is that a yes?]

[Captain Chloe]
[hell yea]

I slung my pack over my shoulder and headed back down the hall. "Chloe says it's okay for me to spend the night," I said as I re-entered the living room.

"Good, let's move out, then," David said, scooping up his keys from the coffee table.

"Yes, sir."


I ended up on campus a solid hour before classes started and still way too damn early in the morning. That was one big perk to the dorms. You really just had to roll out of bed and walk over to class. I could've still been asleep for another half an hour. But my scholarship would've come up short if I wanted a dorm. So a commuter was I. Fuck me.

"Max!"

I looked up at the familiar voice to see Kate waving at me from over at one of the tables. Even years younger, she still wore that same style. Alyssa was there, too, sans the dyed hair. Not that I technically knew her. Not in this timeline. Still, I walked over and gave Kate a smile. "It's been a while, Kate," I muttered a lame half-apology.

"Who is this?" Alyssa asked, turning her eyes to me.

"This is Max," Kate said, her sweet smile never faltering. "She stayed with my family for a few months after…"

"My parents died," I filled in the silence Kate left. The words tasted like bile in my throat. The truth of them. The lie of them.

I killed my parents.

"Oh," Alyssa's tone softened. "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"It's fine," I said, grimacing a smile.

It's not.

"Max, this is Alyssa," Kate introduced me. "We were just comparing schedules and it looks like we have a lot of classes together. What does your schedule look like?"

"We probably don't have any classes together," I muttered, as I fished the paper from my messenger bag. Handing the paper over I said, "I'm starting as a sophomore this year."

"Oh my goodness, really?" Kate stared at the paper, a genuine enthusiasm in her voice. "I'm so happy for you. You were always so smart!"

I took back the paper, not sure how to respond to that. I wasn't smart. Every day in school was a struggle for as long as I could remember. I just so happened to have already done these grades once before. Skipping ahead was just a way for me to be with Chloe. She needed more support than a few texts throughout the day. "I actually got credits for a lot of the core classes, so I filled up my schedule with electives and the rest of my classes I picked whatever Chloe was doing at that time."

"Who's Chloe?" Alyssa asked.

"That'd be me!" I nearly jumped out of my skin as her hand gripped my shoulder.

My head snapped over to find her giving me a stupid grin. Tucked under her free arm was her skateboard. Her hair remained its natural strawberry blonde and her style was a far cry from the punk exterior I'd come to adore so much. She just wore a graphic tee, a pair of non-ripped jeans, and a pair of tennis shoes.

"Hey, Kate, long time no see," Chloe said, removing her hand from my shoulder so she could give Kate a wave. "You're going to Blackhell now, huh?"

"Um, yes?" Kate faltered just a bit. Chloe always made her a little uncomfortable. Kate motioned between Chloe and Alyssa. "This is Chloe, Max's best friend. Chloe, this is Alyssa."

"'Sup?" Chloe greeted with a nod. "This is my second year around, so if you guys need anything, hit me up."

Alyssa turned to Kate. "Do you know everyone at Blackwell?"

Kate shook her head as she let a giggle escape her throat. "No. Just these two, actually."

"We'll have to catch up some time, Kate, but I need to steal Max here away," Chloe said, emphasizing my name by throwing her arm over my shoulders and leaning into me. She led me away with promises to show me all the best spots. Which, in Chloe's mind, were basically secluded places to hang out or smoke. She didn't even take me by the dorms or anything, mostly because, as a local like me, she didn't have access. Good enough by me. I'd probably have tried to set the Tobanga on fire, or at least tried to convince Chloe to do it.

After being shown all the quiet places I already knew, plus a couple I didn't over by the football field, we still had close to twenty minutes to kill. And Chloe needed her fix. We stopped by the backside of the gymnasium as Chloe lit a cigarette.

"I hate that you smoke," I said, keeping a healthy distance between us. It was mostly true. I still kind of considered the lingering smell of cigarettes and weed to be "Chloe." At least she hadn't achieved her chain-smoking levels of consumption. Yet.

"Blame Justin and Trevor. They got me started," Chloe said, taking a drag from her cigarette.

"I never should've let you come here for a year by yourself. You need a chaperone!" I chided.

She purposely blew a puff of smoke in my face. "Don't be such a drag, Max. You sound worse than my parents." It took her about half a second to catch her slip. "Fuck! Shit, sorry, Max. I didn't mean…"

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean anything by it." Still, I suddenly felt like shit. Again.

"I got kinda hung up on the 'drag' pun. Because of the cigarette," Chloe overexplained.

I sighed. "I said it's fine."

"Yeah, and I don't fucking believe you. When the hell are you gonna stop blaming yourself for that shit?"

I pushed myself off the building and turned my back to Chloe. "When it stops being my fault."

"It's not—fuck, Max!" Chloe tossed her cigarette and grabbed her board before catching up to me. Passing me up, she turned around and grabbed my shoulder with her free hand. "What happened to your parents was a super fucked up fluke. Do you hear me? You had nothing to do with it."

I asked for it to happen.

"We're… really different, aren't we?" I asked, looking up into those gorgeous blue eyes. "You'd blame anyone and everyone for something before you would blame yourself. Even in a fucked up world that's out to get me, I just… I can't help but hate myself for not being able to do a single goddamned thing right. All the chances in the world… and I just keep making the wrong choices, over and over."

Chloe's skateboard clattered to the ground as she put her other hand on my other shoulder and gave me a good shake. "Listen here. You have been through a hell I can't even begin to imagine. And look at you. You're a better student than before. Your pictures are nothing short of fucking amazing. Hell, you put up with that douchebag Madsen every day. You're still the nicest person I know and my best friend. You're always there for me. Always. I… I can't tell you what that means to me, and-and how much of an asshole it makes me feel like when you get like this, Max! Fucking just… tell me what to do. Tell me how I can make it better!"

My vision blurred, and all I could do was to step forward and wrap my arms around Chloe. "Just… be you. Be happy," I said as I held her tight and my own sobs started to claim me. "That's all I want."

Chloe's arms wrapped around me, and I felt her chin on top of my head. "Shit. How can you ask me to be happy when you're like this?" she asked, her voice straining to try to stay even.

In her arms, everything felt right. The smell of cigarettes and a faint, sweet odor that I could only identify as "Chloe" calmed me as much as her strong, warm arms around me. I felt her breathing against me and it quelled the sobs that threatened to choke me.

Of course, even this perfect moment could still be ruined my own fucked up brain and emotions. I fought against my desire to take the soft flesh of her neck into my lips. Chloe hadn't even discovered herself. She hadn't met Rachel at the Firewalk concert.

I had to make sure she found Rachel at that concert. Rachel was her first love. Her angel. Me? I was just a convenient rebound. Something to latch onto to keep herself from drowning in her sorrow of Rachel's disappearance. More importantly, I wouldn't be here for Chloe forever. If my visions came true, I would die when the storm comes in four years. She needed someone to lean on. Someone to spend her life with that could make her truly happy. She needed Rachel Amber.

Deliberately, I pried myself away from my guilty comfort. "We need to get to class," I said, keeping my voice calm and even. It took every ounce of strength I had to not look at her as I passed. "You can't afford any tardies."