Afterwards: A Life Is Strange Fan-Fiction <A Choice Story>

Chapter 9

I get up and back up towards the door. "You know Victoria I, uh..."

"Max I'm sorry. I just, well, always had a slight crush on you." What the hell!? Is that the alcohol talking or is it her? Doesn't matter, this is fucking weird.

"....What?" That's all I can end up saying. I didn't expect something like this to ever happen. I suppose from a movie or book standpoint this would be a great romantic scenario, I think. I don't really read or watch romance. But this isn't a movie or a book, this is real life, and this just happened.

"I guess the reason I made fun of you was because I had liked you. You know, like what boys do in grade school." Her cheeks start to visibly blush. Wait, what? I'm so confused right now.

"Uhh...Victoria, this is-this is kind of-"

"Uncomfortable?" She says while interrupting me. I start to feel really warm.

"Yes, yes. Really, really uncomfortable." I say while staring down at the floor. I still can't believe that Victoria just made a move on me. I could have sworn she liked Nathan. She sits there on my bed holding her wound and her flask, and probably staring up at me. I can just sense she is.

"Unnghh." She moans, and takes a long drink. "You, you know, we could just do it right here. I'm all yours Caulfield." Oh god, now the alcohol is kicking in. "C'mon, kiss me, right now, you cute hipster."

"No, Victoria. You're drunk." At least I think she's drunk.

"No I'm not Max! I'm a woman that can hold her alcohol." She says sounding a bit slurred. "Unghh, damn, my stomach is killing me." It may very well literally do that. She takes another drink.

"Maybe you should lay off of the alcohol."

"No way Maxine." God I hate when people call me that. She's just drunk, maybe she forgot that I hate that. "This stuff is the only thing making me feel good right now. I'll stop drinking it if you come over here and take its place." Barf. That's like the last thing I ever want to do. Ever.

"Victoria, I think you need some rest. Let me get you settled in."

"Ohh Max, you're gonna touch me? Well, I'm ready for you." This is what nightmares are made of. I've never seen Victoria this cringy. Actually, when is she not cringy?

"Ok come on, get under the covers." I say while pulling my blanket up close to her.

"Unngh, it hurts when I move." She eventually moves under the blanket and lays in my bed, looking up at me.

"Hey Max, psst. I've got a secret to tell you." She says acting as serious as she can.

"What is it?" I ask, kind of playing along.

"Lean in here and I'll whisper it in your ear." I lean in to hear what she has to say, because why not, right?

"I know who did that to your door. I was watching from around the corner and they didn't know I was there." She says starting to smile.

"Who was it? What happened?" I ask seriously.

"Guess." She says while laying there smirking.

"Victoria I really need to know-"

"Come on then. Guess." She interrupts me.

"Fine." I don't even know who would do that to my door anyway. "Ummm, was it Alyssa?" I wouldn't know why she would do it, that was just the first name that popped into my head.

"Nope."

"It was Brooke then." I say. She wouldn't have a reason to do it either. I don't know anyone that would have a reason to do that.

"Nuh-uh. You give up?"

"Yes. Now who did it."

"It was." She starts laughing. "It was Mark. You know, Mr. Jefferson." What the hell? Why would Mr. Jefferson try to break down my door? Is she even telling the truth, or is she so drunk that she's lying to me, though she would do that without the alcohol. This whole encounter with Victoria has been so fucking weird.

"Are you sure it was him?"

"Yeah, I'm, unnghh, pretty sure it was him. Max, I'm kind of-kinda tired now. I'm gonna go to sleep, ok?"

"Yeah, ok." Victoria slowly closes her eyes and goes to sleep. I stare at her for a little bit. What have I done? This all could have been avoided. She likes me romantically? Did Mr. Jefferson really do that to my door? My head is spinning with questions.

Wait a minute. Victoria's chest isn't moving. I move my hand out and touch the side of her neck. Oh my god, she's dead. Deep down I knew that wound was too serious for her to survive. I pull the blanket over her face. This is crazy, I can't believe she liked me this whole time. I start to cry. To think for a while I wanted her to die, but now that it's happened, I wish I could go back and save her. "Rest In Peace, Victoria." I mutter. This is crazy. Chloe's missing, Mark broke into my room, and Victoria's dead. This may have been the most climactic week of my life. Hopefully, like in a book, this next week won't be as climactic. I really need a break from everything.

I don't know if we are really going to leave Arcadia Bay, but I told Chloe I would get my stuff, so I probably should. I walk over to my open closet area and look up at the cabinets. Which one was it? I look in the left one. Nope, nothing in here. So it must be the right one. I open the right cabinet and look in. It's not here either. I know I put my suitcase in one of these. What if Mark stole it? Why would he even want my suitcase? I mean, it wasn't a very big suitcase. This is just getting even more confusing. I don't have time for this now, I have to get back to Chloe. I can always come back here, but I have to meet up with Chloe first. I walk out of my dorm room and close the door behind me, though that probably won't do anything, as Victoria and, supposedly Mark, have already been in there.

You know, this place definitely looks different from when I was first here, but it still has the same kind of vibe to it. I still get the vibe that Victoria hates me when I look at her room, even though she doesn't I guess. When I walk past Kate's room, I still get the vibe that her depression is still stirring inside of her, even though I stopped her from jumping. A lot has changed this past week, yet it all still feels kind of the same. I make it to the door and open it. The light hurts my eyes a little bit, but it's not too bad. The dormitory was dark, but not really that dark. I walk down the few stairs of the dormitory entrance and look around. This place is really ruined. Even the tobanga totem has been disturbed. I wonder how the native spirits feel about that. I need to get to Chloe, because knowing her, she may have hurt herself. I make my way out of the front of the dormitory to the courtyard in front of the school. "Oh my god! Chloe?!" I yell.

"Hello Max. It's been while, has it not?" Says Mark with a smile.
Go to chapter 17