The Calm Before The Storm

The Night Belongs To You

~Chloe~

By the time the dance rolls around, Max is walking around almost as well as she was before the accident.

Well, that's a bit of a stretch.

Max does seem to have a slight limp that refuses to go away.

The doctors told her that it was just something she'd have to adjust living with, a mere side-effect of a horrible accident.

It doesn't seem to bother Max as much as I thought it would.

I guess she has it in her head that the limp is her punishment or something... like a reminder of the carnage her powers can cause.

Anyways, that's not the only thing that has changed around here. Ryan has been helping us out a lot, which is honestly a godsend considering the stack of medical bills both of us wracked up.

Max was hesitant at first, of allowing her father to help pay for things that are necessarily our responsibilities, but I gently reminded her that with my sorry excuse of a paycheck, we weren't going to last very long on our own

Anyways, It's weird hanging around Ryan, especially since he reminds me of what it felt like being in a stable home.

But it's not like Max has it any better either.

Her parents have been at each other's throats since we were kids.

I'm honestly surprised they've lasted this long.

It didn't take a smart person to see that Ryan and Vanessa were toxic for each other.

Anyways, the dance is tonight and I've holed myself up in the bathroom.

Fan-fucking-tactic.

Huh, don't get me wrong, I still wanna go, especially with Max as my date but... I dunno.

I'm worried is all, ya know after the whole "Vortex Club" thing.

I still don't get why Max would even want to go to something like this.

For her, that party was as traumatic as Dad's death was for me.

And that's saying something.

Max isn't the same girl she was on October 7th, 2013.

Everything she's been through has changed her in some sense.

For better... or worse.

*sigh* I've been wanting to say something, you know like: "Hey, Max. Sure you wanna re-expose yourself to all these negative memories and reminders?", but that in itself is going to trigger something, if not everything for her.

The entirety of the last two days we spent in Arcadia Bay are by far the ones that have scared us the most.

Those two days are the ones best left unspoken.

"Hey, Chloe! Are you done in there?" Max calls from outside the bathroom door.

I jump a bit, "Uh... yeah... almost," I reply, taking a long deep breath.

I look back up at myself in the mirror and sigh. I look tired, and worn out, but... still alive.

"Stop thinking about the past, Chloe," I silently scold myself, "That's all it is... the past".

I grab my beanie and shove it onto my nearly completely faded blue hair and exit the bathroom.

The dance isn't formal or anything... but I still want to look nice for Max.

Anything for Max.

She waits outside the door, smiling up at me, "Hiya,".

I smile back, "Hey".